Adriana Smith’s son, Chance, continues to grow
On October 14, Adriana Smith’s mother (and Chance Smith’s grandmother) April Newkirk posted an update to the family’s GoFundMe about her baby grandson:
Chance is now 8 pounds. He is growing very well. Chances lungs are underdeveloped, so he will stay in the nicu unit until his breathing gets better. Chase saw his little brother by video. This was a touching moment thank you all for your prayers and support. Keep praying
April Newkirk
When the Smith case first broke, journalists gave dire (and baseless) warnings about the odds of Chance surviving until birth, or long after birth, especially without any major disabilites. These warnings were topped by pro-abortion social media commentators explicitly hoping Chance would die.
[Read more: Is Adriana Smith’s son a threat to abortion rights?]
We’re glad to see he has not only survived, but continues to grow. His family has repeatedly expressed their love and hope for him. I hope in coming months we get a follow up story about how they’ve been able to take him home.
Herb Geraghty and I had a very detailed long-form conversation about Adriana Smith’s case back in May, when it was first going viral. We talked about the Georgia advanced directive law (not the abortion ban) that actually governed the situation; the ethical tensions between maternal wishes, family decisions, and fetal rights; the very different ways pro-life and pro-choice people frame disability and viability; and the real-world data on pregnancy outcomes after brain death. You can read a summary here or watch the replay here:
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