Minnesotans Hold Vigil for Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller – Strike Back! News

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, October 4, 30 abortion rights activists, allies and community members gathered to mourn the deaths and celebrate the lives of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller. Thurman and Miller tragically died because they were unable to access life-saving reproductive care due to Georgia's draconian anti-abortion laws. Their stories only recently came to light after the state Maternal Mortality Review Board found both of their deaths preventable.

The square in front of the Mayday bookstore, where the vigil took place, was bathed in warm candlelight as the sun set. In the middle of the crowd was a tree decorated with pictures honoring the two women and surrounded by bouquets of flowers.

The vigil, hosted by the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC), began with organizer Kristen Bledsoe painting a fuller picture of Thurman and Miller's lives, stating, “I want to take a moment to talk about who they were as people, not just as people.” Names were redacted during a review by a state committee, but they were the living, breathing people. Amber Nicole Thurman was 28 years old when she died.”

Bledsoe continued, “She reportedly loved being a mother to her six-year-old son. She loved taking her son on trips to petting zoos, museums and beaches, and she posted on social media: “The conversations I have with my son are everything.” Candi Miller was 41 when she died. The ProPublica report on her death states that she had a fondness for stray cats, tended a garden and was known to start dancing to the sounds of old-school funk like the Commodores.”

Bledsoe went on to discuss the difficulties and dangers their pregnancies posed to them, and the ways in which Georgia's legal circumstances surrounding abortion denied them care or prevented them from even seeking it “These women both chose to have abortions to give themselves a better chance at life, and that's where the story should have ended.”

The next speaker is Monique Cullors-Doty, representing Black Lives MatterMinnesota, BLM Twin Cities Metro and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. She said: “This is really a reflection of the American government, it is a reflection of those who are in power, those who don't care about black people, those who don't care about the working class, who don't care about.” care for the poor. This is very indicative of the actions they are taking.”

After both speeches, MNAAC moderator Olivia Crull invited everyone in attendance to come and talk about their experiences and the impact these deaths have had on them. Several MNAAC members took to the microphone to express their sadness and the tremendous fear and anger they felt because people in their lives were forced to deal with oppressive abortion laws or lack of access to reproductive care.

The vigil ended with Crull leaving the audience with an impassioned call to action to push back against the political forces behind the anti-abortion movement and join the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee in its grassroots work for reproductive justice.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Women's movement #Reproductive rights #abortion