In the political debate over abortion, people like Donald Trump (and plenty of others) like to use a dodge, when talking about what they support. They say they are in favor of three exceptions to abortion bans: rape, incest, and "the life of the mother." But what does that last one mean, on a practical basis? It means needless suffering, pain, risk, and in some cases the actual death of the mother -- all because doctors are scared of being thrown in jail for providing necessary medical services on a timely basis. This is beyond tragic and completely unnecessary, and yet it is no mere hypothetical -- it is happening right here in the United States of America in the twenty-first century.

Kamala Harris forcefully addressed this problem during her debate with Donald Trump. After Trump trotted out his go-to lie about how "everyone" in the country wanted Roe v. Wade overturned and the issue sent back to state governments, Harris hit him with some truth:

I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn't want that. Her husband didn't want that.

Again -- this is not hyperbole, it is now reality for far too many women in this country. A woman in the midst of a medical emergency arrives at a hospital and the doctors refuse to treat her because she is not close enough to death. That is absolutely barbaric, but it is now what some women have to suffer through. That is the practical effect of the blithe assurance that "the life of the mother" is exempt from Draconian abortion bans. Doctors are afraid of being criminally charged if it can somehow be proven that the mother's life wasn't actually at risk. So even though the doctors know that the woman needs an abortion as soon as possible, instead they wait. Needlessly. Senselessly. And inhumanely.

The woman is forced to wait until her organs begin shutting down and she approaches the point where death is clearly imminent. Only then will the doctors operate, but because they have forced the woman literally to the brink of death, the procedure is far more risky and the chances of permanent damage and even death itself go way up. Because that's what the law forces them to do. This is the result of moralizing politicians (few of whom have had medical training) writing laws without caring what the practical result will be:

In Oklahoma, 25-year-old Jaci Statton, sick and bleeding with a nonviable partial molar pregnancy, said medical staff told her to wait in a parking lot until she was "crashing" or on the verge of a heart attack. In Florida, Anya Cook was sent home from the hospital after her membranes ruptured at 16 weeks; she then nearly bled to death in the bathroom of a hair salon. Women in Texas and Louisiana have been denied treatment for life-threatening ectopic pregnancies.

And yet these laws are passed for supposedly moral reasons. But how can anyone call it "moral" to force a woman close to death before a doctor will do what needs to be done? How is that moral in any way?

ProPublica just published the heart-wrenching story of the entirely preventable and senseless death of Amber Nicole Thurman, a woman in Georgia who was forced to wait 20 hours after she arrived at a hospital before the doctors even attempted what was clearly necessary from the start. Because they waited so long, Thurman was in such a dire situation that she died on the operating table. A medical review board ruled the death was "preventable." But the doctors who could have easily prevented it faced being thrown in prison for 10 years if they had done so. So they waited. Needlessly. Senselessly. And inhumanely.

Georgia's ban isn't even as strict as other states, since they have an exception for abortions "necessary in order to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function." Some states don't even have that second clause. But it wasn't enough to save Thurman.

ProPublica has identified a second case of such needless, senseless death, which they will publish later. They are seeking others as well. Highlighting such needless tragedy is a worthwhile thing to do, since Americans really need to understand precisely what is going on in some of our states. Women are being forced to suffer for no reason whatsoever. The risk of them dying from this cruel and deadly waiting game is very real. And it's happening right here in the U.S.A.

In the struggle for Civil Rights, the cry of "states' rights" was used to thwart federal legislation from guaranteeing all people in this country equal human rights. If some states decided that certain people didn't deserve basic human rights, well that was just fine with some folks. Eventually this was seen as being monstrously unfair and civil rights were guaranteed to all by the federal government, because whether you were treated in a humane manner shouldn't depend on what state you happen to live in. Instead it was seen as the right of every American, no matter how brutally backwards their state governments happened to be.

This is precisely what is happening now. Women are denied basic human rights -- such as the right to receive medical care in a timely manner without the interference of moralistic politicians -- based on what state they live in. If Thurman had lived in a state with laws guaranteeing women's rights, she would be alive today. Doesn't every American woman deserve that?

So the next time you hear a politician smugly claim they support a "life of the mother" abortion exception, know full well that this means forcing women to the brink of death before they get the medical care they need. For no reason. They are cruelly forced to "bleed out in a car in the parking lot" because Republicans have deemed this to be the morally correct thing to do. And it carries grave risks -- including the risk of dying. So the next time you hear that sanctimonious "life of the mother" phrase used, go ahead and ask that politician: "You mean like Amber Nicole Thurman's life? Because she died -- even with that exception. And she's not the only one, either."

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant