Controversy Rages As Brain-Dead Woman Kept Alive To Save Unborn Child

The mother of a brain-dead woman who is 21-weeks pregnant is upset that her daughter is being kept alive to save the unborn child, a baby boy.

April Newkirk has told the press that her 30-year-old daughter, Adriana Smith, is being kept alive by ventilators, blaming Georgia’s pro-life law, which bans abortion of unborn babies after six weeks gestation, with some exceptions.

Newkirk says doctors told her she’s not allowed to take her daughter off the ventilators, so they can protect and save her grandson.

“It should have been left up to the family,” Newkirk said, according to NBC News. “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.”

It’s not entirely clear if Georgia’s abortion law is the reason Smith is being kept alive.

A spokesperson Emory Healthcare, the healthcare system overseeing Smith’s care, said they use “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 continue to be the safety and wellbeing of the patients we serve,” the spokesperson added.

In Georgia, an unborn child cannot be killed via abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, except in rare cases, like the health of the mother, rape, incest, or some fetal abnormalities.

Back in February, when Smith was nine-weeks pregnant with her second child, she began feeling unwell and suffering severe headaches. She went to a nearby hospital and was given medication. The following day, however, Smith’s boyfriend says the 30-year-old was gasping for air and making gargling noises when she woke up.

Smith was eventually transferred to Emory University Hospital, and a CT scan showed multiple blood clots in her brain, NBC News noted.

Ventilators have been keeping Smith breathing for months, Newkirk said. “It’s torture for me,” she said. “I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there.”

Newkirk added that her family is having to incur costs to keep Smith on life-support.

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