Georgia abortion ban forces hospital to keep brain-dead pregnant woman alive

[Morphine Prince 109,670]

In February, a pregnant woman in Georgia was rushed to a hospital after experiencing intense headaches. There, a CT scan showed blood clots in Adriana Smith’s brain, and the 30-year-old nurse was soon declared brain-dead, NBC affiliate WXIA-TV reported.

Three months later, her mother says Smith is being kept alive with ventilators due to the state’s strict abortion law.

“It’s torture for me,” April Newkirk told the Atlanta TV station. “I come here and I see my daughter breathing, by the ventilator, but she’s not there.”

The state’s near-total abortion ban, called the LIFE Act, went into effect in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, doing away with the constitutional right to an abortion. Under the Georgia law, abortions in the state are illegal after cardiac activity can be detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.

At the time of her hospitalization, Smith was nine weeks pregnant with her second child. Newkirk says her daughter is currently 21 weeks pregnant. The family says doctors at Emory University Hospital have said that they are not legally allowed to consider any options.

“It should have been left up to the family,” Newkirk said, adding: “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.”

...

According to the local NBC affiliate, the plan is to keep Smith alive until the point that doctors think her baby can survive outside the womb, likely around 32 weeks.

Georgia’s abortion law does include limited exceptions, such as in situations involving rape or incest or to protect the mother’s life. But because Smith is brain-dead, doctors do not have to take her health into account.

Read more: https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/family-forced-brain-dead-pregnant-woman-alive-rcna207319

 

[Onlygaga 1,747]

I can’t even express how f*cking deranged and disgusting this is. We need to do better than this. Her poor mother having to see the empty vessel that used her child lie there must be so traumatic. 

[monstertoronto 11,744]

This was an actual plot line from the Handmaids Tale. It’s been said so often that the new admin is like that show, but this is an example of it actually happening. Unbelievable and horrifying. 

[Ilia Malinin 2,879]

what in the handmaids tale is going on in this godforsaken country 

[weed 78,954]

I saw a tweet saying this feels like a science experiment and I agree... feels unethical and gross

[dit 46,738]

so they essentially view her as an egg. Literally. They dont view them other as a human being and so since she is essentially dead her womb is viewed as an egg...Im so confused

[Plastic Flower 5,586]

This is so ****ing disgusting.

[Cavadour 2,704]

We sure sh*t aren't enough human beings on this planet. Maintain a braindead mother alive to caesarean out a premature motherless baby... My god.

I thought only Weyland-Yutani was able to do that, pardon the pun !

 

[Shadow 6,697]

What a tragic fate...

[50 Ft Queenie 640]

3 hours ago, monstertoronto said:

This was an actual plot line from the Handmaids Tale. It’s been said so often that the new admin is like that show, but this is an example of it actually happening. Unbelievable and horrifying. 

Thanks for pointing this out, alot of people in denial. Its really happening. **** this country we are in  

[AlvaroMU96 71]

1 hour ago, Cavadour said:

We sure sh*t aren't enough human beings on this planet. Maintain a braindead mother alive to caesarean out a premature motherless baby... My god.

I thought only Weyland-Yutani was able to do that, pardon the pun !

 

Not me playing Alien Isolation and finding this comment out of nowhere ☠️

[Emvee 8,830]

I hope we all know by now that republicans don’t actually care about life. It’s just a culture war tactic to remain in power. 

[Sarah H 4,375]

I thought this was about the country Georgia at first. I should have guessed. 

Absolutely disgusting. 

[Cavadour 2,704]

3 hours ago, AlvaroMU96 said:

Not me playing Alien Isolation and finding this comment out of nowhere ☠️

Yeah, sorry for the reference ! Reading about this nightmare situation sent me an instant flashback to Alien universe... The infamous Prometheus c-section scene... Resurrection clone tubes room and baby...

[Bronco 25,129]

This is absolutely something that should have been left up to the family and not the state. 

And the fact there appears to be no mention of a partner, you have to question what chance does the child even have long term even if you agree with this human incubator experiment