3 days ago
Lawmakers want clarification on abortion bill after controversy over brain-dead pregnant woman
Some Democratic state senators are demanding that the state attorney general clarify just what the Georgia Life Act covers.
The law essentially bans all abortions in Georgia after about six weeks.
The move comes over controversy surrounding the case of Adriana Smith, a pregnant woman from Lithonia. Her mother said she's brain-dead but is being kept on life support at Emory Midtown.
The mother said they couldn't remove that life support because it would impact the baby's life, and Emory said it would violate Georgia's abortion law.
Emory cannot comment on the case because of federal privacy laws, but did issue a statement which reads in part, 'Emory Healthcare 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 law.'
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Smith's mother initially supported an abortion but told Channel 2's Richard Elliot off-camera that she supports the child's birth.
On Thursday, some Democratic state lawmakers demanded that Gov. Brian Kemp request a formal legal opinion from the Attorney General's office about the Life Act.
'We said this law is vague,' State Rep. Park Cannon said.
The AG's office said last week that the Life Act doesn't apply in the Smith case, and in a statement, the governor's office said, 'Holding a partisan press conference does not change the fact that the attorney general's office has already answered this question in the clearest possible terms.'
Still, Duluth Democrat Nabilah Islam-Parkes thinks an official opinion is needed.
'We are calling on the governor to do his job and request a formal opinion from the AG telling the people of Georgia what this law actually means,' Islam-Parkes said.
Republican state Sen. Ed Setzler wrote the Life Act. In a statement, he said that his heart goes out to Smith and her family.
He also condemned those Democrats, saying they were hurting Smith's family by dragging them through 'a sick political debate.'
