In a deeply emotional case that’s drawing national attention, the family of Adriana Smith — a 30-year-old Atlanta nurse declared brain dead over 90 days ago — is being forced to keep her on life support due to Georgia’s strict abortion ban, despite the family’s anguish and uncertainty over the future of her unborn child.
Smith, a mother and healthcare worker, began experiencing severe headaches in early February while nine weeks pregnant. Her mother, April Newkirk, recounted that her daughter visited a hospital, but no scans were performed.
By the next morning, her condition deteriorated. Found gasping for air, she was rushed to the hospital where a CT scan revealed multiple brain clots. Tragically, it was too late — doctors declared her brain dead.
But instead of mourning and closure, Smith’s family entered a legal and emotional limbo. Georgia’s abortion law prohibits terminating a pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat is detected — usually around six weeks — unless in specific medical emergencies.
In this case, doctors have told the family they are legally required to maintain life support until the baby is viable outside the womb, even though Smith is brain dead.
“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” Newkirk told local news. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there.”
Celebrities and public figures have increasingly spoken out against rigid abortion bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, and this case is adding fuel to the national conversation.
High-profile advocates for reproductive rights are amplifying Smith’s story, emphasizing the psychological trauma inflicted on families by laws that override personal medical decisions.
Newkirk also described the heartbreak of bringing Smith’s young son to visit his unconscious mother, as he believes she’s only sleeping. Meanwhile, doctors aim to keep Smith alive until 32 weeks of pregnancy — she is currently at 21 weeks.
“This decision should’ve been left to us,” Newkirk emphasized. “We’re the ones who will raise him — and we don’t even know what kind of life he’ll have.”
While not a celebrity herself, Adriana Smith’s tragic story has transcended headlines and entered the realm of cultural reckoning — where human stories meet policy, and where the boundaries of reproductive choice are challenged in the spotlight.
