The baby of a brain-dead woman has been delivered via C-section after her body had been kept on life support due to abortion laws in Georgia.
In February, Adriana Smith, from Atlanta, US, went to the doctor after experiencing intense headaches, which didn’t seem to be going away.
The 31-year-old, who was nine weeks pregnant at this time, was reportedly sent home with some pain medication, but the mom’s condition deteriorated the next day.
The next morning, her boyfriend heard the nurse gasping for air and rushed her to the hospital, where a CT scan discovered that she had multiple blood clots in her brain.
Sadly, the doctors were unable to save her and Adriana was declared brain dead. However, because of Georgia’s controversial ‘Heartbeat Bill’, which prohibits the termination of any pregnancy after six weeks gestation if there is a ‘detectable human heartbeat’, she was placed on life support.
Adriana Smith was officially declared brain dead (YouTube/11Alive)
According to the legislation, an abortion can only be carried out in the event of a ‘medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy’ to either ‘to save the pregnant person’s life,’ to ‘preserve’ the woman’s ‘physical health’, or ‘if the fetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy’.
The law was signed in 2019; however, it didn’t come into effect until Roe V Wade was overturned in 2022.
Because Adriana is no longer at risk, doctors reportedly said that they are legally bound to keep her alive until the fetus can be considered viable, her family claimed.
Her family had previously described the ‘torture’ of witnessing Adriana on a ventilator, with her mom, April Newkirk, telling 11Alive: “She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days. It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, on a ventilator but she’s not there.”
She’d previously expressed concern that her grandson ‘may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born’.
Now, Newkirk told 11Alive that Adriana had given premature birth to her son via C-section on Friday (June 13).
Adriana’s mother confirmed her daughter has given birth (YouTube/11Alive)
She told the outlet that the baby boy, named Chance, weighs just 1lb 13oz (0.8 kg), but he’s ‘expected to be OK’.
“He’s just fighting. We just want prayers for him,” April added.
She went on to tell the local outlet that Adriana would be taken off life support on Tuesday (June 17).
“It’s hard to process,” she added. “I’m her mother. I shouldn’t be burying my daughter. My daughter should be burying me.”
Newkirk had previously said that the decision to keep someone on life support ‘should have been left up to the family’, adding: “I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision. And if not, then their partner or their parents.”
