In midst of yet another insane week, news of the taking the baby from its mother’s brain dead corpse June 18, 2025 was paraded through all the news media. Yes, technically this was a cesarean birth. In the broadest of broadest senses. A baby was born of a body. Yes, the body just happened to have a dead brain that was very much not directing all the minutiae that goes into balancing the pregnant body.
Doctors were directing that instead. This kind of balancing act of a body that is no longer being directed by a brain but also pregnant is abhorrent.
They had hoped to keep the uterus pregnant until over 30 weeks but they were unable to keep the pregnancy going after 24 weeks and a few days. Because, you know, the brain was dead and not directing anything.
This was not a medical miracle.
This was medical horror.
The result is a 1 pound 12 oz baby that was excised from their brain dead mother. Probably taken straight to the NICU.
This was the mad scientists in the Georgia state legislature who masquerade as legislators who are masking as doctors throwing the dice after the fall of Roe.
This was an entirely predictable outcome to all of their women controlling laws.
A brain dead mother who is artificially kept alive for 4 months so that the infant could be delivered. They were so excited to think that they could, no legislature ever considered whether they should.
Who knows what will be the outcome? Who knows if the baby will have any deficits? Who knows the survivability chances of this perversion of healthcare and women’s rights for the baby?
But the self-satisfied, self-righteous so-called Christian right will hail this as a victory. After all a baby was saved. Saved into a world that their mother had been brain dead for four months before they were sliced out of the uterus.
And salivate over the idea of another.
You know, so that the lessons learned on this poor woman’s corpse can be expanded upon. Maybe the next baby can be incubated until 25 weeks, and so on. And on. And on. And on. Until they hit upon the magic formula to reach full gestation. No matter the cost.
How long until they “manufacture” a brain dead woman?
Emory, the hospital in question that this travesty took place has demurred, saying through a spokesperson “Emory Healthcare uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature and legal guidance to support our providers as they make medical recommendations.”
I cannot say it louder that legal guidance has any bearing on medical recommendations. Especially in a situation such as this.
Rest in peace, Adriana Smith. They can’t torture your body anymore. Best wishes to the baby.
And sorrow for any other woman who is forced into continuing to gestate a fetus after they have been declared brain dead.
She won’t be the last.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 