In Adriana Smith case, a clear moral resolution

Adriana Smith, who was declared brain dead in February while nine weeks pregnant, gave birth this week to a baby boy named Chance, ending a murky ethical situation in which Smith was kept on life support on the premise that her unborn child could survive. According to Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, Chance is expected to be fine despite his premature birth via cesarean section.

Critics of the decision to keep Smith on life support have rushed to blame her care plan on Georgia’s heartbeat law, despite assurances from Republican Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr that “there is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death.”