Adriana Smith & Ohio & SCOTUS (Oh My!)
My Top Three for Today (because I couldn't choose just one)
1. Adriana Smith did NOT “give birth”
2. Ohio continues to work to overturn the will of the voters
3. SCOTUS does not care about trans kids
1. Adriana Smith did NOT “give birth”
Media outlets reported today that Adriana Smith “gave birth” or “delivered a baby.” She did neither of those things. Adriana Smith is a Black woman in Georgia who, although she is brain dead, has been kept on life support for months because she was further along that 6 weeks pregnant. Without her consent and against the wishes of her family, Georgia’s “heartbeat law” superseded Adriana’s right to bodily autonomy. Important to remember that no one can be forced to be an organ donor, even if it could save someone else’s life without their consent, but a woman can be forced to be an incubator.
Today, Adriana did not “give birth.” Without her consent, her brain dead body was sliced open and a baby was extracted.
The baby weighs around 1 pound and is reportedly doing well in the NICU. This is a horrifying situation and I feel for her family. They have to say goodbye to their Adriana and then care for the baby she will never know, that she was forced to incubate. Adriana’s mother is devastated and maintains that every woman should have the choice of what happens to her body.
We have to call this what it is: medical experimentation on a Black woman (a la Henrietta Lacks) to advance the anti-choice agenda. Anti-choice zealots around the country will view this as a victory and conservative state legislatures are salivating at the possibility they too could pass a law that would require dead women to be involuntary incubators.
2. Ohio continues to work to overturn the will of the voters
In November of 2023, 57% of voters in Ohio voted in favor of amending the state’s constitution to enshrine the right to medial privacy and choosing one’s own reproductive healthcare. From the moment it passed, Republicans have been working tirelessly to overturn the will of the people.
This week, Republicans in Columbus introduced new legislation that would ban abortion completely, no exceptions, and criminalize the procedure allowing for patients and providers to be charged with homicide. The legislation, if passed, would also outlaw IVF and some forms of contraception, including IUDs. In October of 2024, a judge ruled that Ohio’s 6-week ban obviously violated the state constitution. This kind of legislation is not only a slap in the face to Ohio voters, it’s a huge waste of legislative energy and because it will be challenged in court, also a huge waste of taxpayer resources.
3. SCOTUS does not care about trans kids
In a devastating 6-3 decision released today, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on trans minors receiving gender-affirming care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
Three Tennessee teens, their families, and their doctor argued that Tennessee’s ban violated the equal protection clause of the constitution because minors who are not trans are able to access gender-affirming care like hormones and puberty blockers but trans kids cannot. The majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts rejected that argument.
Roberts writes that the state has a compelling interest to protect minors from the harm that gender-affirming care could cause. Justice Thomas joined the majority opinion and wrote his own concurrence where he criticized the medical community for politicizing this issue and using weak data to support this kind of care for children.
Contrary to Tennessee’s and the majority’s position, there is immense data showing that the real harm comes from children being denied access to this care as they experience higher rates suicide. Just like in the case of women seeking reproductive healthcare, trans people of all ages are not given the same right to medical privacy as others. The Supreme Court has once again inserted themselves in between patients and providers, stripping trans people of the ability to make healthcare decisions based on their best interest with the guidance and expertise of medical professionals.