The leftist reaction to this story is predictable, painting pro-lifers as macabre and ghoulish for approving of the state’s decision to give Adriana’s baby a chance to live. We should stand with the state of Georgia and the doctors caring for Adriana and her child, and we should encourage all pro-lifers to support them with a unified voice. May God bring life from death and beauty from ashes.

Several months ago, Adriana Smith began having a series of mysteriously intense headaches. When she went to the hospital in Atlanta, Ga., doctors prescribed some medicine and sent her home. The following morning, she woke up unable to breathe, gasping and choking. Her boyfriend called 911, but it was too late. The blood clots building in her brain undetected had robbed her of consciousness. She was declared brain-dead. This would be tragedy enough, but to compound the tragedy, she was pregnant.

As I write, Smith is now 22 weeks pregnant. By Georgia law, her body has been kept on life support, including breathing tubes, to allow the baby to grow. If you read major reports from outlets like NBC News or the Associated Press, you would think this is some “radical” red-state legislation downstream of the Dobbs decision. In fact, the relevant state law well pre-dates Dobbs and is separate from the state’s abortion ban, although it bears specifically on tragic cases like Smith’s. According to Georgia Code § 31-32-9, doctors aren’t permitted to withdraw life support from a comatose pregnant woman unless the fetus isn’t viable and the patient has an advanced directive stating she didn’t want to be kept on support. In Smith’s case, neither condition applies.

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