Georgia is now facing one of the biggest problems and moral conflicts created by the US state’s abortion law. A Georgia woman who is pregnant but was declared brain dead in a hospital is still being kept alive by reluctant doctors even if the family wants to end the patient’s suffering.
The woman in question is 30-year-old Adriana Smith, who lives in Atlanta and was nine weeks pregnant after she discovered that her brain had blood clots. Around February, the pregnant Smith suddenly gasped for air in her sleep and had to be taken to Emory University Hospital. Soon after, she was declared brain dead because of the blood clots.
Since her ordeal in February, Smith has sadly been hooked to life-saving machines for more than 90 days, with her family questioning the doctors’ decision. The doctors then explained to Smith’s family that they need to wait until the fetus inside her is at 32 weeks of gestation so they can extract the child before they can pull Smith’s life support. For the record, Smith was only 21 weeks pregnant.
As per Georgia’s LIFE Act, doctors are legally mandated to maintain Smith’s life support until the fetus reaches 32 weeks. Hence, Smith is being kept in a vegetative state under Georgia abortion laws even though her family wanted to decide for her.
Meanwhile, April Newkirk, Smith’s mother and the grandmother of her unborn child, was also made aware that her grandson might be born with multiple disabilities due to the fluid in the fetus’s brain:
“She’s pregnant with my grandson but he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born. This decision should’ve been left to us. Now we’re left wondering what kind of life he’ll have—and we’re going to be the ones raising him,” worries Newkirk, transcript courtesy of Newsweek.
No Exception for Smith’s Case
The culprit of Smith’s predicament is also known as the Heartbeat Bill, or more formally, as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act. It went into effect in 2022 and aims to ban abortions of any kind after six weeks, which, for Adriana Smith, was unfortunately a non-negotiable technicality as she was already nine weeks pregnant by the time she was brain-dead.
April Newkirk, Smith’s mother, argued that her daughter could’ve avoided her misfortune if only the hospitals were more thorough in their checkup. Before being brain-dead, Smith notably went in for a consultation after experiencing intense headaches, but was only given medication.
The tragedy of Smith’s pregnancy and condition has left many taxpayers and people online wondering what exactly the state of Georgia and its politicians aim to gain in such a situation. Not to mention, keeping a brain-dead person alive even as her family suffers is not only expensive but also morally questionable.
“I can’t imagine the pain of her loved ones seeing her in such circumstances,” says ProcedurePrudent5496
“One more handmaid’s tale prediction checked,” worries Major_File_9364
“It’s Georgia. So because it’s the law, the state should front the costs of her healthcare because of the circumstances. In fact, taxpayers should be FORCED to cover these charges. It’s what they voted for. And if they aren’t happy about it, they should kick MTG out of the fucking office,” fumes tratemusic
“What’s the end game here? Do we just wish for suffering?” questions Cynical_Thinker
