due to higher costs from tariffs.

Georgia’s abortion law, said the situation is problematic.“Her family deserved the right to have decision-making power about her medical decisions,” Simpson said in a statement. “Instead, they have endured over 90 days of retraumatization, expensive medical costs, and the cruelty of being unable to resolve and move toward healing.”

Thaddeus Pope, a bioethicist and lawyer at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, said while a few states have laws that specifically limit removing treatment from a pregnant woman who is alive but incapacitated, or brain dead, Georgia isn’t one of them.“Removing the woman’s mechanical ventilation or other support would not constitute an abortion,” he said. “Continued treatment is not legally required.”Lois Shepherd, a bioethicist and law professor at the University of Virginia, also said she does not believe life support is legally required in this case.

Emory University Hospital Midtown is seen on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)Emory University Hospital Midtown is seen on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

But she said whether a state could insist Smith remains on life support is uncertain since the overturning of Roe, which found that fetuses do not have the rights of people.

“Pre-Dobbs, a fetus didn’t have any rights,” Shepherd said. “And the state’s interest in fetal life could not be so strong as to overcome other important rights, but now we don’t know.”A senior African National Congress lawmaker, Khusela Diko, questioned the timing of the directive and whether the country was bending over backward to accommodate Musk’s Starlink satellite telecom business.

The Association of Communications and Technology (ACT), an industry body, said the proposed changes could usher in “a new era” for the industry provided they are implemented consistently, fairly and openly.“We advocate for smarter, scalable approaches that deliver meaningful impact and restore policy clarity, consistency, and investor confidence,” the ACT said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Malatsi, who belongs to the Democratic Alliance party, appeared before Parliament in Cape Town to defend the move and denied suggestions it was introduced specifically for Starlink.Lawmakers questioned whether the directives were correctly opening up the playing field for foreign players or tampering with the government’s economic empowerment agenda by catering to Starlink.