Latest news with #lifeSupport
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Woman, 30, medically declared brain-dead is pregnant while on life support
A 30-year-old woman on life support in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, is expecting a baby. a local nurse, was nine weeks pregnant when she went to a hospital in February seeking treatment for intense headaches. Doctors sent her home with some medication but they didn't conduct a CT scan. The next morning she woke up struggling to breathe. The hospital discovered the mother-of-one had blood clots in her brain and, after an unsuccessful surgery to relieve the pressure, she was declared brain-dead. Critics argue the situation has turned from tragedy into 'an absolute horror show' after Emory University Hospital – where the nurse previously worked – informed Adriana's family that, although she was legally dead, she was not allowed to die. The apparent reason, according to the hospital's spokesman, is that it's acting 'in compliance with Georgia's abortion laws'. As such, the hospital has reportedly demanded Adriana be kept alive on breathing and feeding tubes until specialists have determined the male foetus is sufficiently developed to be delivered – by caesarean section – as a baby boy. That is scheduled to occur in early August. Removing her from life-support until that time, health officials reportedly believe, would violate Georgia's strict anti-abortion laws – which prohibit termination once a foetal heartbeat is detected, typically at around six weeks. The state's controversial law, the Living Infants Fairness And Equality (LIFE) Act, which was dubbed the 'Heartbeat Bill' does contain an exception to save the life of the mother. But that doesn't apply to Adriana, as her life is beyond saving. Her family say they haven't made up their minds whether to switch off her life-support systems but, at this moment, are deeply upset that the decision has been taken out of their hands by faceless bureaucrats. 'This is torture for me,' her distraught mother April Newkirk told local TV station 11Alive. 'I see my daughter breathing by the ventilator but she's not there.' She revealed that the baby - who the family have named 'Chance' – has hydrocephalus, or fluid on the brain. Even if he survives the pregnancy (which is increasingly uncertain), he could be born with severe disabilities. Newkirk added: 'He may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he's born. Right now, the journey is for baby "Chance" to survive. Whatever condition God allows him to come here in, we're going to love him just the same.' While Georgia's 'Heartbeat Law' was narrowly passed in 2019, it did not come into effect until three years later after the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade, the 1973 case that established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. Three other states have similar abortion bans that come into force around the six-week mark and 12 states bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Legal experts are in little doubt what is worrying Adriana's healthcare provider – a part of the Georgia law that gives foetuses legal rights. If Adriana and the foetus are two patients with separate legal rights, even if the mother dies, the hospital might have a legal obligation to keep the foetus alive. But doctors anticipate there will be more problems for the child, pointing out life-support systems are not designed for long-term treatment of brain-dead patients. With blood no longer running to the mother's brain, the organ is starting to decompose. 'The chance of there being a healthy newborn at the end of this is very, very small,' said Steven Ralston, the director of the maternal foetal medicine division at George Washington University in Washington DC. The medical situation and apparent helplessness of Adriana's family has sparked the ire of the 'pro-choice', pro-abortion lobby, with critics saying the case demonstrates a 'pro-life' philosophy that ends up being anything but humane. Predictably, some opponents have likened Georgia to Gilead, the fictional U.S. in Margaret Atwood's chilling novel The Handmaid's Tale. In this dystopian world, much of the U.S. is ruled by a brutal Christian fundamentalist government which – to tackle a severe infertility crisis – forces the few women who can conceive to devote their lives to producing offspring for ruling men. While drawing an analogy with the book is once again a fairly extreme view, critics are correct in saying the state's leaders should have seen this coming. Legal experts say the vague way anti-abortion laws are written will naturally make doctors and hospitals worried about facing criminal charges. And they should have foreseen, too, how the movement to establish so-called 'foetal personhood' – whereby a foetus should have legal rights, including the right to life – would inevitably end up pitting the rights of the mother against those of their unborn child. Now, keen to avert a public relations crisis that could lose them votes in a key swing state, even some of Georgia's conservatives are fighting back by claiming that the state's LIFE law is being misinterpreted. The state's Republican attorney general, Chris Carr, declared last week that the law does not require doctors to keep brain-dead patients alive because turning off the life support 'is not an action with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy'. Others disagree, however, and say the hospital has taken the correct – and humane – course. 'While Adriana can no longer speak for herself, her son's life still matters. Her doctors are doing the right thing by treating him as a unique patient,' said Students For Life Of America, a national anti-abortion group which has even launched a campaign to raise money to help Adriana's family. Georgia state Senator Ed Setzler, who sponsored the state's abortion crackdown, has agreed, saying: 'I think there's a valuable human life that we have an opportunity to save, and I think it's the right thing to save it. To suggest otherwise is to declare the child as being other than human. 'This is an unusual circumstance, but I think it highlights the value of innocent human life.'
ABC News
25-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
A high-tech ECMO machine is saving lives and giving families a chance to make memories
Families and doctors have given a rare glimpse into an extraordinary medical intervention used to care for some of the country's sickest children. Known as ECMO, the high-tech life support system is a therapy of last resort.
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Brain-dead pregnant woman's case spurs questions about medical consent
A pregnant woman declared brain-dead months ago is being kept on life support in Georgia until her baby can be delivered — a decision doctors made to obey the state's strict abortion ban, according to her family. The case raises questions about medical consent since the fall of Roe v. Wade, how to balance the legal status of the fetus and its mother, and the limits of medical care.
Washington Post
16-05-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Hospital tells family brain-dead Georgia woman must carry fetus to birth because of abortion ban
ATLANTA — A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain dead after a medical emergency has been on life support for three months to let the fetus grow enough to be delivered, a move her family says a hospital told them was required under the state's strict anti-abortion law. With her due date still more than three months away, it could be one of the longest such pregnancies. Her family is upset that Georgia's law that restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected doesn't allow relatives to have a say in whether a pregnant woman is kept on life support.
CBC
16-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Georgia hospital says it's following state law in continuing pregnancy of woman on life support
Social Sharing A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain-dead after a medical emergency has been on life support for three months to let the fetus grow enough to be delivered, a move her family says a hospital told them was required under the state's strict anti-abortion law. Members of Adriana Smith's family say Emory University Hospital doctors have told them they are not allowed to stop or remove the devices that are keeping her breathing because state law bans abortion after cardiac activity can be detected — generally around six weeks into pregnancy. With the due date still more than three months away, it could be one of the longest such pregnancies. Her family is upset that Georgia's law that restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected doesn't allow relatives to have a say in whether a pregnant woman is kept on life support. The law was adopted in 2019 but not enforced until after Roe v. Wade was overturned in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling by the Supreme Court, which opened the door to state abortion bans. Smith, a 30-year-old mother and nurse, was declared brain-dead in February, her mother, April Newkirk, told Atlanta TV station WXIA. Newkirk said Smith is now 21 weeks pregnant. Removing breathing tubes and other life-saving devices would likely kill the fetus. Emory Healthcare said it could not comment on an individual case because of privacy rules, but released a statement saying it "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 laws and all other applicable laws. Our top priorities continue to be the safety and wellbeing of the patients we serve." Twelve states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and three others have bans like Georgia's that kick in after about six weeks. Like the others, Georgia's ban includes an exception if an abortion is necessary to maintain the woman's life. Legal confusion over rights of fetus Newkirk said her daughter had intense headaches more than three months ago and went to Atlanta's Northside Hospital, where she received medication and was released. The next morning, her boyfriend woke to her gasping for air and called 911. Emory University Hospital determined she had blood clots in her brain and she was declared brain-dead. Smith's family, including her five-year-old son, still visit her in the hospital. Newkirk told WXIA that doctors told the family that the fetus has fluid on the brain and that they're concerned about his health. "She's pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he's born," Newkirk said. She has not said whether the family wants Smith removed from life support. Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Georgia's abortion law, said the situation is problematic. "Her family deserved the right to have decision-making power about her medical decisions," Simpson said in a statement. "Instead, they have endured over 90 days of retraumatization, expensive medical costs, and the cruelty of being unable to resolve and move toward healing." Lois Shepherd, a bioethicist and law professor at the University of Virginia, said she does not believe life support is legally required in this case. But she said whether a state could insist Smith remains on life support is uncertain since the overturning of Roe, which found that fetuses do not have the rights of people. "Pre-Dobbs, a fetus didn't have any rights," Shepherd said. "And the state's interest in fetal life could not be so strong as to overcome other important rights, but now we don't know." Complications frequent in known cases Brain death in pregnancy is rare. Rarer still are cases in which doctors aim to prolong the pregnancy after a woman is declared brain-dead. A 2021 review scoured medical literature going back decades for cases in which doctors declared a woman brain-dead and aimed to prolong her pregnancy. It found 35. Of those, 27 resulted in a live birth, the majority either immediately declared healthy or with normal follow-up tests. But Dr. Vincenzo Berghella, who co-authored the study, also cautioned that the Georgia case was much more difficult because the pregnancy was less far along when the woman was declared brain-dead. In the 35 cases he studied, doctors were able to prolong the pregnancy by an average of just seven weeks before complications forced them to intervene. "It's just hard to keep the mother out of infection, out of cardiac failure," said Berghella, director of maternal fetal medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Berghella also found a case from Germany that resulted in a live birth when the woman was declared brain-dead at nine weeks of pregnancy — about as far along as Smith was when she died. Georgia's law confers personhood on a fetus. Those who favour personhood say fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses should be considered people with the same rights as those already born. Georgia state Sen. Ed Setzler, a Republican who sponsored the 2019 law, said he supported Emory's interpretation. "I think it is completely appropriate that the hospital do what they can to save the life of the child," Setzler said. "I think this is an unusual circumstance, but I think it highlights the value of innocent human life. I think the hospital is acting appropriately." WATCH l Then-VP candidate Tim Walz on the death of Georgia woman Amber Thurman: Letting states decide abortion rules puts American lives in danger, Walz says 8 months ago Duration 1:41 During the CBS News Vice-Presidential Debate on Tuesday, Democratic nominee Tim Walz countered Republican nominee J.D. Vance's comment that states should make their own decisions about abortion by referring to the case of a Georgia woman who died while trying to access a legal procedure out of state. 'There's a very real chance, had Amber Thurman lived in Minnesota, she would be alive,' Walz said. Setzler said he believes it is sometimes acceptable to remove life support from someone who is brain-dead, but that the law is "an appropriate check" because the mother is pregnant. He said Smith's relatives have "good choices," including keeping the child or offering it for adoption. Georgia's abortion ban has been in the spotlight before. Last year, ProPublica reported that two Georgia women died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills. The stories of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller entered the presidential race, with Democrat Kamala Harris saying the deaths were the result of the abortion bans that went into effect in Georgia and elsewhere after Dobbs.
