A brain-dead Georgia woman has reportedly been on life support for three months to carry a fetus to birth because of the state’s abortion ban.
Adriana Smith is a registered nurse at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. She was roughly nine weeks pregnant when she began having headaches in February. Smith, 30, went to Northside Hospital and was released after being handed some medication, her mother, April Newkirk, said, according to WXIA and CNN Newsource.
“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests, didn’t do any CT scans. If they did, they would have caught it,” she added.
Smith’s boyfriend noticed the following morning that something was very wrong.
“She was gasping for air in her sleep, gargling. More than likely, it was blood,” said Newkirk.
After being taken to the hospital where she worked, a CT scan showed several blood clots in her brain, and doctors declared her brain dead.
“They asked me if I would agree to a procedure to relieve the pressure, and I said yes,” Newkirk said, according to 11Alive. “Then they called me back and said they couldn’t do it.”
“I feel like somebody dropped the ball at the hospitals, and her boyfriend asked, ‘Please keep her.’ If she was kept at the hospital, we wouldn’t be here,” Newkirk added.
More than three months later, Smith is still on life support, and the family says they weren’t given any options for her care because of the state’s heartbeat law, which outlaws abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, which usually takes place after around six weeks of pregnancy.
“It’s torture for me. I come here, and I see my daughter breathing on a ventilator, but she’s not there,” Newkirk said.
Newkirk said that she brings Smith’s young son to see her, and that he thinks she’s just sleeping.
The health of the unborn child remains unclear, 21 weeks into the pregnancy. Smith was moved to another hospital, Emory Midtown, on Tuesday. Doctors told the family it’s better equipped for the care she needs. The plan is for Smith to remain on life support until the child can live outside the womb, likely at about 32 weeks of pregnancy.
“She’s pregnant with my grandson, but my grandson may be blind, may not be able to walk, wheelchair-bound. We don’t know if he’ll live once she has him,” Newkirk said, according to WXIA. “It should have been left up to the family.”
Smith’s case has opened up a legal gray area regarding the state’s heartbeat law. It includes some exceptions, such as for rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is at risk. As Smith is brain-dead and no longer viewed as being at risk herself, the medical staff is required by law to keep her alive until the baby can live outside the womb. The family said doctors told them the law doesn’t allow them to consider other alternatives.
“I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision, and if not, then their partner or their parents,” said Newkirk. “I’m not saying we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, but what I’m saying is we should have had a choice.”
“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,” she added, according to 11Alive.
The family is also concerned about the financial ramifications, as the medical bills keep piling up.
“They’re hoping to get the baby to at least 32 weeks,” said Newkirk. “But every day that goes by, it’s more cost, more trauma, more questions.”
