The controversial ‘Heartbeat Bill’ passed in Georgia, where abortion beyond 6 weeks of gestation is prohibited, gave way to a unique case where a family had to sit back and watch something unfold beyond their control.pre
Keep reading to know more.
In February this year, Adriana Smith went to her doctor in Atlanta complaining of headaches that were not going away.
The 31-year-old was nine weeks pregnant at the time. She was given some pain medication and sent on her, but her health did not improve and only got worse from there on out.
The next morning, her boyfriend heard her gasping for air and rushed her to a hospital. She underwent a CT scan which showed she had multiple blood clots in her brain.
Unfortunately, doctors were unable to save her and Adriana was pronounced brain dead. However, because of Georgia’s ‘Heartbeat Bill’, which has attracted a lot of controversy, it is prohibited to terminate any pregnancy after 6 weeks of gestation, when there is a ‘detectable human heartbeat.’ As a result, Adriana was placed on life support.
According to the new law a ‘medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy’ to either ‘to save the pregnant person’s life,’ to ‘preserve’ the woman’s ‘physical health’, or ‘if the fetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy’.
The law was signed in 2019 but came into full effect when Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022.
Because there was technically no risk to Adriana’s life any longer, doctors said they were legally obliged to keep her alive until the fetus was viable, according to her family.
Her family has been vocal about the ‘torture’ of having to witness Adriana on life support. Her mother, April Newkirk, said, “She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days. It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, on a ventilator but she’s not there.”
She was also concerned that the child born ‘may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born’.
Now it is being reported that Adriana has given birth to her son via C-section on Friday, June 13.
The baby boy, who has been named Chance, weighs just 1lb 13oz (0.8 kg), is expected to be ‘OK.’
“He’s just fighting. We just want prayers for him,” April said.
Her daughter was taken off life support on June 17. “It’s hard to process,” she said about the situation. “I’m her mother. I shouldn’t be burying my daughter. My daughter should be burying me.”
Previously, Newkirk was critical of the way things had been handled, expressing that the decision to keep her on life support ‘should have been left up to the family.’ She said, “I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision. And if not, then their partner or their parents.”
