The media reported a tragic case of a pregnant Georgia woman who was brain dead but was kept on life support to give birth – but the media screamed that it shows how bad abortion bans are. As expected, the media is pushing a false narrative. We do a fact-check.
Show Script:
Media Shouts Abortion – Nobody Asked The Mum
The media reported a tragic case of a pregnant Georgia woman who was brain dead but was kept on life support to give birth – but the media screamed that it shows how bad abortion bans are. As expected, the media is pushing a false narrative. We do a fact-check.
There was a sad story which was in the media a month ago – including the NZ Herald:
A 30-year-old pregnant Georgia woman in the southeastern United States has been kept on life support for three months — despite being declared brain-dead — due to the state’s abortion restrictions, the woman’s mother says. April Newkirk said the decision to keep her daughter Adriana Smith alive was made without input from her family. “This decision should’ve been left to us,” she told local NBC broadcaster WXIA-TV. Newkirk said Smith, a registered nurse, was suffering serious headaches in February when she was nine weeks pregnant.
The next morning, when she was taken to the hospital where she worked, doctors found multiple blood clots in her brain, and she was declared brain dead.
Georgia law bans all abortion treatments after six weeks of pregnancy — one of the so-called ‘heartbeat’ laws, referring to the approximate first detection of a fetal heartbeat.
As Smith was nine weeks along, doctors were hesitant to do anything that could contravene the law, according to Newkirk.
Smith has been kept on life support ever since, and is now 21 weeks into her pregnancy.
“I’m not saying that we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, what I’m saying is: we should have had a choice,” Newkirk said.
Smith, who has a son, has been kept on a ventilator to bring the fetus to term, though Newkirk said doctors are not sure the pregnancy will be viable or without health complications.
So the media are pushing this narrative – a woman is being kept alive due to the abortion ban.
Now think of the underlying message here. A tragic story of a woman who is brain dead, but she’s pregnant. And so they are keeping her alive so the baby can survive.
But the narrative is that because it’s around the issue of abortion and because Trump is bad orange man and wants to dictate what women can and can’t do – a narrative that was ignored in the recent election because Trump still beat sickening pro-abortion candidate Kamala Harris – therefore we should kill the unborn child because the mother is brain dead.
So let’s see two people die.
That seems to be the message
The mother says “we should have had a choice.”
Adriana knew she was pregnant. Nine weeks. She had already chosen not to abort. What do we think her wishes would have been? But of course, that question is never asked – or answered.
No this is a tragic story taken up by the media – abortion ban – we should have the right to kill the unborn child – Trump abortion bad man.
Just what the media ordered.
Here’s the fact check (and I actually posted this on 1News and NewsTalk ZB’s Facebook pages when they were parroting the same narrative on their website).
And I’m grateful to Lila Rose’s LiveAction analysis which covered this at the time
It said:
Smith was tragically declared brain dead. She was moved to Emory University Hospital Midtown, where she has been on a ventilator for more than 90 days as doctors work to ensure her baby reaches an age when he has a stronger chance of survival before he is delivered and Smith’s life support is removed. According to media reports, the goal is to keep Smith on life support until her son reaches 32 weeks gestation — for another 11 weeks.
As one commenter noted on a Facebook post by Secular Pro-Life regarding the case, “[Smith] knew she was pregnant and chose not to abort, so why would even those who are ‘pro-choice’ be fighting so hard to go against the mother’s choice to give birth if possible?”
Apparently in Georgia, removing a pregnant woman from life support does not constitute an abortion as defined by the Georgia Life Act which is what the media are currently blaming.
And secondly, due to a law passed in 2007, removing a pregnant woman from life support is not legal in Georgia unless her pre-born child isn’t viable, and she has said in advance that she wants an abortion.
It appears Adriana didn’t. She wanted the child.
Newkirk told 11 Alive, “It’s torture for me. I come here, and I see my daughter breathing on a ventilator, but she’s not there.” She added, “I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision, and if not, then their partner or their parents. I’m not saying we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, but what I’m saying is we should have had a choice”
So despite the media suggestion, it’s not a slam-dunk by the family that they want an abortion.
The saga of course provoked a strong reaction by rabid pro-abortion Democrats and abortion rights organisations. Democratic congresswoman Nikema Williams of Georgia said in a statement “Everyone deserves the freedom to decide what’s best for their families, futures, and lives.,”
Except the lives of unborn babies, apparently.
The mother did decide. She was keeping the baby.
Well there’s an update.
According to the NZ Herald, it screams “We should have had a choice: Family speaks on brain-dead pregnancy case”. Which is the narrative and only narrative some people will see. The one the media want you to think about.
But then when you click on the link to the actual story – it’s actually quite different. But still false heading.
“Brain-dead woman kept alive because of abortion laws gives birth in Georgia”
A brain-dead pregnant woman who was kept alive in the southern US state of Georgia because of local abortion restrictions has given birth.
Lie. Fake news.
The mother was then removed from life support. Adriana Smith captivated attention across the US, where access to abortion has changed radically since the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the federal right to terminate a pregnancy….
[Three Democrat] congresswomen.. are pushing for better protections of the rights of pregnant women, “particularly black women, who are disproportionately impacted by systemic medical neglect and restrictive anti-abortion laws”.
Once again, absolutely no reference to what the black woman concerned – the mother who had not chosen abortion – what her wishes might be.
Here’s a local Georgia news media report with an interview with the mother of Adriana.
“Atlanta-area nurse Adriana Smith gave birth to her son by cesarean section on Friday after months on life support, her mother, April Newkirk, told local news outlet WXIA in an interview released on Tuesday. The baby, Chance, is in the NICU and weighs about 1 pound, 13 ounces, according to Newkirk. He’s fighting, but they expect him to make it through, she added. The family planned to take Smith off life support on Tuesday, Newkirk said.
Have a watch. Is this a family screaming for abortion, as the media would like you to believe?
That sounds very pro-life, doesn’t it. “We want prayers for him, Just keep praying for him.
And interesting name – Chance. He was given a chance – no thanks to democrats, pro-abortion activists, and the legacy media.
But have a listen to this bit – because you find out exactly what the real grief is for the family. Not about the right to abort her grandson, but the lack of medical care for her daughter.
That clarifies a lot, doesn’t it.
But then the clanger. The bit the mainstream media hoped you wouldn’t hear
“She loved being a mother… I’m pregnant you know…. She was excited for baby Chance. She really was.”
Ooops.
That is a ray of light in an absolute tragedy. Isn’t it. A new life. Alive.
Interestingly, according to the local media report
“… the sponsor of Georgia’s heartbeat law, Georgia Republican state Sen. Ed Setzler, applauded the hospital’s decision to keep Smith on life support. Setzler characterized Smith’s situation as an unusual circumstance and said it was completely appropriate for the hospital to do whatever it could to save the child’s life, according to the Associated Press. The hospital’s actions only underscored the value of human life, he added.”
Correct.
This is a totally different narrative to what the media has tried to ram down.
You cannot distrust the media – and its culture of death – enough.
This is just another disgusting display of bias – ironically, from a dying mainstream media.
