A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain-dead is being kept alive on ventilators due to the state’s abortion ban, according to her mother, who tells local news that the family has no say in the matter.
April Newkirk stated that her 30-year-old daughter, Adriana Smith, began experiencing severe headaches in early February. Smith was nine weeks pregnant with her second child, according to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate WXIA-TV.
Smith went to Northside Hospital for treatment, but was released after receiving medication, according to Newkirk. According to Newkirk, the hospital did not run any tests or scans.
Northside did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Smith’s boyfriend awoke one day after seeking treatment to find her gasping for air and gargling, according to Newkirk.
Smith was rushed to Emory Decatur and then transferred to Emory University Hospital, where a CT scan showed multiple blood clots in her brain, the news station reported.
Newkirk told the news station that her daughter was declared brain-dead and has “been breathing through machines for more than 90 days.”
“It’s torture for me,” she explained. “I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there.”
When NBC News contacted Newkirk on Thursday morning, he declined the interview.
According to WXIA, the plan is to keep Smith alive until the baby boy can safely survive on his own, which will most likely be around 32 weeks.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the state’s near-total abortion ban, known as the LIFE Act, in 2019, but it did not go into effect until 2022, after it was challenged in court and the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Abortions are illegal after six weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions include situations where the woman’s life and health are at risk, when fetal anomalies are discovered, and when rape and incest have been reported to the police.
Newkirk informed the station that her daughter is currently 21 weeks pregnant.
“It should have been left up to the family,” Newkirk said, adding that doctors informed the family that they were legally prohibited from considering any other options.
“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,” she told me.
According to an Emory Healthcare spokesperson, the company “uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers as they make individualized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia’s abortion laws and all other applicable laws.”
“Our top priorities remain the safety and well-being of the patients we serve,” the spokesperson said.
Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, stated that the first issue in Smith’s case was that she did not receive adequate care when she sought treatment for her headaches.
Simpson said in a phone call Thursday that the family’s current situation raises another issue, namely the gray area surrounding the state’s abortion ban.
The ban causes “this type of uncertainty for medical care providers, it creates this type of uncertainty for folks who are coming up against it,” according to Simpson.
“It’s not black and white,” she explained. “Unfortunately, there are some gray areas that our elected officials, state, and governor did not consider when putting this ban into effect. “We’ve seen that there are gray areas, which is where the danger comes in.”
Newkirk stated that the family is also dealing with the financial burden of keeping Smith on life support.
