Shocking abortion law means brain dead pregnant woman has to be kept alive as mom describes it as 'torture'
Liv Bridge
Featured Image Credit: 11 Alive/YouTube
A heartbroken mom has spoken out about the 'trauma' her family are enduring as her pregnant daughter with brain damage is being forcefully kept alive due to a shocking abortion law.
Adriana Smith, a mom and a nurse from Atlanta, started experiencing intense headaches in February this year.
Already nine weeks pregnant at this point, the 30-year-old sought medical advice and was reportedly sent away with medication.
The next morning, her boyfriend heard her making gurgling noises and gasping for air, and rushed her to hospital where a CT scan revealed she had multiple blood clots in her brain.
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Tragically, it was too late to save her life, and doctors declared her brain dead.
The case has since taken a harrowing turn as Adriana is unable to pass away peacefully, being kept alive on a ventilator for an agonizing three months - all because of Georgia's controversial 'heartbeat bill'.
The state prohibited the termination of any pregnancy after six weeks gestation following the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade.
The legislation stipulates no abortion can be carried out if there is a 'detectable human heartbeat' except in the event of a 'medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy'.
One can only be performed 'to save the pregnant person's life,' to 'preserve' the woman's 'physical health' and 'if the fetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy'.
Speaking to 11Alive, her mom, April Newkirk, said the family have endured 90 days of 'torture' as Adriana's case meets a legal gray area.
Doctors have reportedly told the family that since she is no longer considered at risk, they are legally bound to maintain her life until the fetus reaches viability.
“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” she said. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, on a ventilator but she’s not there. And I'm touching her.
"And her son — I bring him to see her.”
April said it's even more heartbreaking that her grandson believes his mom is 'just sleeping'.
“I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,” she continued. “And if not, then their partner or their parents.”
The mom said she doesn't know if they would have chosen to end Adriana's pregnancy, who is now at 21 weeks, but the lack of choice is making the experience more painful, as well as the medical bills.
“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But my grandson may be blind, may not be able to walk, wheelchair bound, we don't know if he'll live once she has him", she told the outlet. “It should have been left up to the family because, I'm in my fifties, her dad is in his fifties, so we're gonna have the responsibility with her partner to raise her sons.
"And I'm not saying that we would have chose to terminate her pregnancy, what I'm saying is we should have had a choice.”
She says doctors are planning to keep Adriana alive until the baby reaches 32 weeks, from which point they'll induce her.