May 16, 2025, 16:54 PM Edt / Updated on May 16, 2025, 19:22 PM Edt
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In February, a pregnant woman in Georgia was taken to a hospital after intensive headaches. There, a CT scan showed blood clot in Adriana Smith's brain, and the 30-year-old nurse was soon declared a brain, reported NBC partner WXIA TV.
Three months later, her mother says that Smith will be kept alive due to the strict abortion law of the state with hiders.
“It's torture for me,” April Newkirk told the TV station Atlanta. “I come here and see how my daughter breathes the ventilation, but she's not there.”
The state's almost comprehensive abortion ban, called Life Act, came into force in 2022 after the Supreme Court of Roe v. Wade had lifted and the constitutional right to abortion remedied. According to Georgia, abortions in the state are usually illegal after cardiac activities can be determined, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Adriana Smith.About Wxia
At the time of her hospital stay, Smith was nine weeks pregnant with her second child. Newkirk says her daughter is currently 21 weeks pregnant. The family says that doctors of the Emory University Hospital said that they are not allowed to consider options.
“It should have been left to the family,” said Newkirk and added: “I don't say that we decided to end their pregnancy, but but [what] I say: we should have had a choice. “
A spokesman for Emory Healthcare announced NBC News that the health system used “consensus of clinical experts, medical literature and legal guidelines to support our providers, as they in accordance with the abortion laws and all other applicable laws of Georgia submit individual treatment recommendations.”
“Our top priorities are still the security and well -being of the patients we serve,” added the spokesman.
According to the local NBC partner, it is planned to keep Smith alive until the doctors believe that their baby can survive outside of the womb, probably around 32 weeks.
The Georgia's abortion law includes limited exceptions, e.g. But because Smith is brain dead, doctors do not have to take their health into account.
The Senator of Georgia State, Ed Settler, a Republican who sponsored the law, told the Associated Press that the hospital would make the right decision.
“I think it is completely appropriate that the hospital does everything to save the child's life,” he said. “I think this is an unusual circumstance, but I think it underlines the value of innocent human life. I think the hospital acts appropriate.” He added that the family members have “good decisions” as they can go forward, e.g. B. the adoption or the child's holding.
But Smith's mother told Wxia that doctors were worried after discovering Fluid in the baby's brain.
I see my daughter breathing from the ventilation, but she's not there.
April Newkirk, Adriana Smith's mother
“She is pregnant with my grandson. But my grandson may be blind, may not be able to walk … We don't know if he will live like this if she has him,” said Newkirk.
Together with the emotional toll, Smith's relatives deal with the financial burden on keeping their daughter on life. In weeks up to possible viability, the bills will continue to add up.
“Every day that passes, there are more costs, more trauma, more questions,” Newkirk told Wxia.
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