‘We should have had a choice': Brain-dead pregnant woman in Georgia taken off life support after premature birth; baby weighs 1 Kg
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A brain-dead pregnant Black woman in Georgia was kept on life support due to the state's abortion restrictions but was removed from it after giving birth to a baby boy, according to a report by AFP.
Officials stated that the woman, identified as Adriana Smith, gave birth prematurely to a baby boy weighing less than 1 kilogram. Named Chance, the baby was delivered via emergency C-section on June 13 and is currently being cared for in the NICU.
Smith, who was taken off life support on June 17, drew national attention as her case unfolded amid major changes to abortion access following the supreme court's 2022 decision to overturn the federal right to abortion in a review of landmark Roe v Wade judgement granting women to terminate a pregnancy.
'On Friday, June 13, 2025, her infant son, named Chance, was born prematurely at approximately 4:41 am via emergency Cesarean section," three Democratic congresswomen said in a statement. 'Chance weighs about 1 pound, 13 ounces and is currently in the NICU."
Smith, a 30-year-old nurse, began experiencing severe headaches in February while nine weeks pregnant. Her first hospital visit resulted in just a prescription for medication, according to the agency.
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The following morning, she was brought to the hospital where she was employed. There, doctors discovered multiple blood clots in her brain and ultimately declared her brain dead.
Georgia law prohibits abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, under what is known as a 'heartbeat' law, based on the first detection of a fetal heartbeat.
Since Smith was nine weeks pregnant, doctors were reluctant to take any action that might violate the law, according to her mother, April Newkirk.
Speaking to local NBC affiliate WXIA-TV in mid-May, she said, 'This decision should've been left to us. I'm not saying that we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, what I'm saying is: we should have had a choice.'
WHAT IS THE LAW?
Since the conservative-leaning supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022, more than 20 of the 50 US states, including Georgia, have enacted strict abortion restrictions or complete bans.
The three congresswomen Nikema Williams, Ayanna Pressley, and Sara Jacobs are advocating for stronger protections for pregnant women's rights, especially for Black women, who are disproportionately affected by systemic medical neglect and strict anti-abortion laws.
'The lack of a formal legal opinion or prosecutorial guidance leaves families and doctors in limbo," said the lawmakers, who have presented a congressional resolution on the issue.
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