A Georgia family says a pregnant woman who is brain-dead is being kept alive on ventilators until the fetus grows enough to safely be delivered. They say the hospital won’t allow them to take the woman off life support because of Georgia’s strict abortion law.
What is Georgia’s law?
Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Living Infants Fairness and Equality, or LIFE, Act into law in 2019. However, it immediately faced a legal challenge and didn’t go into effect until 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Under the so-called “heartbeat law,” abortions are illegal in Georgia after six weeks of pregnancy, because that’s when a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
There are some exceptions to the law, like when it’s necessary to protect the woman’s life and health or when fetal anomalies are detected. Abortion after six weeks of pregnancy is also allowed in cases of rape and incest that have been documented with the police.
What’s happening in this case?
The family of 30-year-old Adriana Smith said she was declared brain-dead in February.
According to her family, Smith went to an Atlanta-area hospital with headaches and was given medicine before being released. The next day, her boyfriend woke to her gasping for air and called 911.
Smith was taken to Emory University Hospital where a CT scan showed she had blood clots in her brain and she was declared brain-dead.
Since then, Smith has been on life support.
Smith is currently 21 weeks pregnant, putting her due date still more than three months away. The hospital told Smith’s family that taking her off life support would likely kill the fetus, making it illegal under Georgia law.
Hospital officials said Smith must stay on life support until the fetus can safely survive on its own at around 32 weeks.
What is Smith’s family saying?
Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, told one Atlanta news station that doctors informed the family they are legally not allowed to consider any other options.
“It should have been left up to the family,” Newkirk said. “I’m not saying that we would have chose to terminate her pregnancy, but what I’m saying is, we should have had a choice.”
Newkirk said the family is also being forced to bear the financial burden of keeping Smith on life support.
Doctors say the fetus has fluid on the brain and they’re concerned about his health, according to Newkirk.
“He may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,” Newkirk said.
What’s the hospital saying?
A spokesperson for Emory Healthcare said it “uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers as they make individualized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia’s abortion laws and all other applicable laws.”
