Baby of Georgia woman who was kept on life support has been delivered: Report
A woman in Georgia whose family said she was brain dead but kept on life support due to the state's abortion laws was given a C-section to deliver her baby, according to a local news report.
Nurse Adriana Smith was declared brain dead after a sudden health emergency in February when she was about eight weeks pregnant, her mother April Newkirk told 11Alive, an Atlanta-based NBC affiliate. Hospital officials told the family at the time that they could not remove Smith from her life support due to state law that bans most abortions after six weeks, the outlet reported.
Smith, whose 31st birthday recently passed, was removed from life support on June 17, her mother told the outlet. Newkirk said the baby, a boy named Chance, was born prematurely at 1 pound, 13 ounces on June 13 and is in the neonatal intensive care unit, the outlet reported.
"He's expected to be OK," Newkirk told 11Alive. "He's just fighting. We just want prayers for him. Just keep praying for him. He's here now."
Attempts to reach Newkirk in May and on June 17 were unsuccessful.
A spokesperson for Emory University Hospital, where Newkirk has been hospitalized at the Midtown location, said the hospital cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws.
"The top priorities at Emory Healthcare continue to be the safety and wellbeing of the patients and families we serve. Emory Healthcare uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature and legal guidance to support our providers as they make medical recommendations," spokesperson Janet Christenbury said in a statement.
In May, Christenbury said the hospital uses the same consensus to guide medical staff "in compliance with Georgia’s abortion laws and all other applicable laws."
The case kicked off a nationwide debate over how restrictive abortion laws can cause confusion for medical professionals seeking to care for patients' health while toeing the line of the legislation.
What happened to Adriana Smith?
Smith started experiencing intense headaches and sought treatment at a hospital, and was sent home with medication but no further testing, Newkirk told 11Alive last month. Her condition became severe the next morning, when she began gasping for air and making a gurgling noise in her sleep, Newkirk said. A CT scan later revealed blood clots.
Smith was put on a ventilator and declared brain dead. She's been kept alive with machines since February. Newkirk said the family was told by the hospital that they had no choice but to keep Smith on life support due to the state's abortion law.
"It’s torture for me. I come here and I see my daughter breathing ... but she’s not there," Newkirk told 11Alive. "It should've been left up to the family."
What is Georgia's abortion law?
Georgia passed a ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy in November 2022. The law has limited exceptions, including medical emergencies or cases where the pregnancy is "medically futile," and cases of rape or incest when a police report has been filed and the fetus is less than 20 weeks.
The law, known as the "heartbeat law" and formally called the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, has faced its fair share of controversy and legal challenges. It was introduced in 2019 but not enacted until after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Georgia's law has led to stories of women in medical peril as doctors try to follow the letter of the law and deliver critical care. Avery Davis Bell told Paste BN last year that life-saving care was delayed as she hemorrhaged while miscarrying in her second trimester of pregnancy because doctors said a dilation and evacuation procedure had to wait until her life was more at risk. She was also treated at Emory Midtown, where Smith is hospitalized.
But Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, doesn't think the state's abortion law applies to Smith's case, according to a statement provided by his communications director, Kara Murray.
"There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death. Removing life support is not an action 'with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy,'" the statement reads.
The hospital's reported decision "would be an unusual and deeply troubling interpretation" of the law, Georgia Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, a Democrat, said at a news conference.
"Women deserve the ability to give informed medical consent, and when they cannot, their families must be empowered to make decisions with full information and without fear," Islam Parkes said.
Family wanted the right to make the choice
Newkirk has told 11Alive that the family may not necessarily have chosen to terminate Smith's pregnancy, but she said the family should have been the ones to make the decision.
Doctors planned the delivery at 32 weeks gestation, Newkirk said, but they had to do an emergency cesarean section. She was removed from life support days after the C-section, Newkirk told 11Alive.
"It's hard to process," Newkirk told the outlet. "I shouldn't be burying my daughter. My daughter should be burying me."
Baby Chance is Smith's second son. Her 7-year-old believes his mother has been sleeping, Newkirk told 11Alive.
(This story was updated to add new information.)