Target: Ed Setzler, Georgia State Senator
Goal: Restore women’s and family’s rights to make medical decisions regarding pregnancy.
A pregnant woman is declared brain-dead. Rather than being granted a peaceful death, the woman – in essence a living corpse – is kept alive for months until she gives birth. It’s a harrowing scene straight from The Handmaid’s Tale turned horrific reality for a Georgia family. Adriana Smith suffered a medical crisis involving blood clots in her brain months ago. Shortly after she was brought to the hospital for a second time, physicians determined she had no brain activity. In almost all cases, an agonizing and deeply personal decision would await the family. But due to a draconian abortion ban enacted in Georgia, this family’s choice was ripped away from them. Now, they are trapped in a hellish limbo.
Georgia’s politicians passed a so-called “heartbeat law” that prohibits the termination of a fetus after only a few weeks of pregnancy. The law went into effect following the Supreme Court’s overturning of the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. Physicians treating Adriana Smith are fearful that their careers and even their freedom could be in jeopardy if they permit Smith’s family to take her off life support, thereby ending the pregnancy. Their worries are not without merit, especially since the state’s politicians have also bestowed personhood upon fetuses.
This woman is being forcibly kept alive until her due date, which is still months away. Worse yet, physicians have reportedly indicated to Smith’s mother that the fetus may have fluid buildup in its brain. Once born, the baby could face a fight for its life and have crippling medical issues that require lifetime care if it does survive.
Sign the petition below to demand lawmakers loosen and clarify its heartless heartbeat law.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Setzler,
“He may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born.” This is the stark reality a Georgia mother outlined after physicians informed her that her brain-dead daughter must be kept on life support so the young woman can serve as an incubator for months…months of prolonged torture for this family. Are you and the colleagues who inserted yourselves into families’ private medical decisions willing to foot the bill for the crushing medical expenses and the long-term, intensive childcare expenses that may very well result from your desire to inflict your selective morals upon others? Do not claim to value personal freedom when you are exercising the ultimate – and most heartless – form of government overreach.
If you truly believe in small government and in free will, then repeal or seriously amend the draconian abortion law you sponsored that’s more a realization of a nightmarish dystopian society than a reflection of true American values.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Anna Shvets
