Pregnant women in Georgia have been declared brain dead after a medical emergency, and the family says doctors have been on life support for three months, giving them enough time to comply with Georgia’s strict abortion laws.
She was able to keep it that way for months more.
This case was Roev three years ago when the Supreme Court ruled it. It is the latest result of abortion bans introduced in several states since overturning Wade.
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old mother and nurse, was declared brain dead in February, meaning she was legally dead.
Newkirk said his daughter had suffered a severe headache more than three months ago and went to Atlanta’s Northside Hospital where she received her medicine and was released. The next morning, her boyfriend woke up in search of air for her breath and called 911. Emory University Hospital determined that she had a blood clot in her brain and was declared brain dead.
Newkirk said Smith is currently pregnant for 21 weeks. Removing the breathing tubes and other life-saving devices can kill the fetus.
Northside did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Emory Healthcare said it cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy regulations, but issued a statement saying that “using consensus from clinical experts, medical literature and legal guidance, we will continue to provide patient safety and well-being in compliance with our top priorities and to support personalized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia’s Discontinuation Act and other applicable laws.”
No abortions in Georgia
According to Smith’s family, Emory’s doctors generally said they are not allowed to stop or remove devices that are keeping breathing, as state law prohibits abortion after cardiac activity is detected around six weeks after pregnancy.
This law was adopted in 2019, but in 2022 Dobbsv. Roev in ruling of Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It was not enforced until after Wade was overturned. Twelve states have banned abortions at all stages of pregnancy, while three other states have bans like Georgia, who kicks in about six weeks later.
Like others, the Georgia ban includes exceptions when abortions are required to sustain women’s lives. These exceptions are at the heartLegal and political questionsIncludes the measureTexas Supreme CourtThe ruling last year found that the ban would apply even if the complications of pregnancy were large.
Smith’s family, including her five-year-old son, is still visiting her at the hospital.
Newkirk told WXIA the doctor told the family that the fetus had fluid in his brain and that they were worried about his health.
“She’s pregnant with my grandchild, but he’s blind, unable to walk and may not survive if he’s born,” Newkirk said. She has not said whether the family wants Smith to be removed from life support.
Who is the right to make these decisions?
Monica Simpson, executive director of Sistersong;Challenging litigationGeorgia’s abortion laws say the situation is problematic.
“Her family deserves the right to have decision-making power about her medical decisions,” Simpson said in a statement. “Instead, they have endured more than 90 days of recovery, expensive medical costs, and the cruelty of working towards solving and healing.”
Lois Shepherd, a bioethicist and law professor at the University of Virginia, said he doesn’t believe life support is legally necessary in this case.
However, she said that whether the nation could argue that Smith remains on life support is uncertain as it discovered that the fetus has no rights to the people, and therefore remains on life support.
“The pre-fetal fetus had no rights,” Shepherd said. “And the state’s interest in the life of the fetus was not strong enough to overcome other important rights, but I don’t know now.”
What is the prognosis of a fetus?
The situation is echoedTexas caseOver 10 years ago, a woman who had died of her brain was pregnant, so she continued to live for about two months. The judge ultimately determined that the hospital was misusing state law and life support was removed.
Brain death during pregnancy is rare. It’s still rare even if a doctor aims to prolong the pregnancy after a woman is declared brain dead.
“They’re also known as Vincenzo Bergera, director of maternal fetal medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia,” said:
A 2021 review read that Berghella refined the medical literature decades ago on cases aimed at brain death in women and prolonging pregnancy. I found 35.
Of these, 27 were born born, and the majority were immediately declared healthy or declared in a regular follow-up test. However, Bergera also warned that the Georgia incident would be much more difficult when the woman was declared brain dead, as the pregnancy wasn’t too far away. In the 35 cases he studied, doctors were able to prolong pregnancy in an average of seven weeks before complications were forced to intervene.
“It’s difficult to get your mother out of infection and protect her from heart failure,” he said.
Berghella also found a case from Germany that caused birth when a woman was declared brain dead at nine weeks of pregnancy.
Georgia abortion law spotlight
Georgia law gives the fetus a personality. Those who like personality should be considered to have fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses as people who have the same rights as those who have already been born.
Georgia Sen. Ed Setzler, a Republican who sponsored the 2019 law, said he supported Emory’s interpretation.
“I think it’s perfectly appropriate for a hospital to do what it can to save the lives of a child,” Setzler said. “I think this is a rare situation, but I think it emphasizes the value of life for innocent people. I think the hospitals are acting appropriately.”
Setzler said he believes that removing life support from brain-dead people is sometimes acceptable, but that he believes the law is a “appropriate check” because his mother is pregnant. He said Smith’s relatives have a “good choice” that includes maintaining the child or offering it for adoption.
Georgia’s abortion ban was previously in the spotlight.
Last year, Propublica reported that two Georgia women died after taking abortion medications and not receiving proper treatment for complications. The story of Amber Thurman and Candy Miller entered the presidential election, and Democrat Kamala Harris said the death was the result of an abortion ban that came into effect after Georgia and Dobbs.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
