(NRO) – Last month, I wrote about Adriana Smith, the pregnant young mother who tragically experienced blood clots in the brain and was declared dead by neurological criteria. Adriana’s body was maintained with mechanical support to allow her baby to be gestated. I thought that was the right decision. Here is how I analyzed the situation in my post:
- Adriana is not being harmed.
- Her baby’s life is precious.
- The baby will be viable in the next several weeks.
- Potential disability does not make the baby’s life less important.
- We allow the bodies of people declared dead by neurological criteria to be maintained for organ donation, so why not gestation? Both are gifts of life.
- The crucial question is consent.
- Would Adriana have wanted her death to kill her child? There is nothing to indicate in the story that she would.
That column was quite controversial — something new for me (eye roll) — and I received many angry responses (as well as expressions of support). Most of my critics claimed that it was somehow undignified to force a dead woman to gestate a baby. CONTINUE