The baby of a Georgia woman who was declared brain dead and has been on life support since February was born early Friday morning, her mother reported.
According to reports, Adriana Smith’s 31-year-old baby was born prematurely via emergency cesarean section early Friday, the Atlanta station reported Monday night. She was around six months pregnant. The baby, Chance, weighs about 1 pound and 13 ounces and is in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“He’s expected to be okay,” Newkirk told the TV station. “He’s just fighting. We just want prayers for him.”
Newkirk said her daughter had severe headaches over four months ago and went to Atlanta’s Northside Hospital, where she was treated and released. The next morning, her boyfriend noticed her gasping for air and dialed 911. Emory University Hospital determined that she had blood clots in her brain, and she was declared brain dead. She was 8 weeks pregnant.
Newkirk stated that Smith would be taken off life support on Tuesday.
Smith’s family said Emory doctors told them they couldn’t remove the devices that kept her breathing because state law prohibits abortion after cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks into the pregnancy.
Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr later stated that the law does not force medical providers to keep a woman pronounced brain dead on life support.
“Removing life support is not an action ‘with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy,’” Carr said.
