Atlanta, Georgia - The full membership of Georgia's Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) has been dismissed after ProPublica acquired internal records on the preventable deaths of two pregnant women following the state's enactment of a six-week abortion ban.

ProPublica in September published a report on the deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, fatalities the committee deemed were preventable.

Now, the outlet reports that Georgia officials are retaliating against the committee members for allegedly violating confidentiality rules, which prohibit the disclosure of personal details on individual cases under consideration.

"Even though this disclosure was investigated, the investigation was unable to uncover which individual(s) disclosed confidential information. Therefore, effective immediately the current MMRC is disbanded, and all member seats will be filled through a new application process," stated a November 8 letter from Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey.

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The letter notes that "other procedures for on-boarding committee members better ensuring confidentiality, committee oversight and MMRC organizational structure" are now under consideration.

"Once these changes have been made, the Georgia Department of Public Health ('DPH') will begin the process of filling all committee positions."

The MMRC reportedly found that Georgia's six-week ban played a critical role in Thurman and Miller's health outcomes.

Thurman died during emergency surgery in August 2022 – just one month after the ban took effect. The law made it a felony to perform dilation and curettage, with doctors warning that the medical exceptions were vague.

The MMRC found there was a "good chance" Thurman would have lived had medical professionals not delayed the procedure.

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Miller had already been warned another pregnancy might kill her when she discovered in the fall of 2022 that she was unintentionally pregnant. The MMRC found she had delayed seeking care "due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions."

The revelation of the state law's role in the two women's deaths sparked renewed calls for federal protections against rightwing attacks on sexual and reproductive health care, which went into overdrive following the Supreme Court's June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.