Brain Dead Woman Must Deliver Fetus Due To GA Abortion Ban, Family Says

ATLANTA, GA — A Georgia mother and registered nurse who is 21 weeks pregnant and brain dead is being kept alive through "intensive medical intervention" due to a state law that forbids abortions after six weeks, according to media reports.

The family of Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse who works at Emory University Hospital, is reportedly advocating on her behalf after physicians say they have limited options regarding Smith's care due to Georgia's Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, also known as the "heartbeat law."

Smith has been kept on life support for three months by doctors to allow enough time for the baby to be born and comply with Georgia’s strict anti-abortion law, family members say.

Smith entered the hospital after experiencing massive headaches and waking up out of her to sleep while gasping for air, according to WXIA. Multiple blood clots were found in her brain.

Unable to complete a procedure, physicians declared Smith — who has one son and is pregnant with another — brain dead, WXIA reported.

“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” April Newkirk, Smith's mom, told the news outlet. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there. And her son—I bring him to see her.”

Smith must stay on life support until she is 32 weeks gestation, when the child could survive outside of her womb. Removing breathing tubes and other life-saving devices earlier would likely kill the fetus.

Newkirk said doctors told the family the fetus has fluid on the brain and that they're concerned about his health.

“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,” Newkirk said. "This decision should’ve been left to us. Now we’re left wondering what kind of life he’ll have — and we’re going to be the ones raising him."

She has not commented on whether the family wants Smith removed from life support.

Georgia's Abortion Law

Current Georgia law considers miscarriages and stillbirths "spontaneous abortions." This language is reflected in the 2019 Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, also known as the "heartbeat law."

Presently, a woman can be prosecuted if she seeks an abortion because "she reasonably believed that an abortion was the only way to prevent a medical emergency."

The LIFE Act restricts abortions at six-week gestation. After being overturned in 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the law in October while its constitutionality was being evaluated.

There are some exceptions to the law, such as a medical emergency that puts the mother's life at risk.

Georgia's law confers personhood on a fetus. Those who favor personhood say fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses should be considered people with the same rights as those already born.

Last year, ProPublica reported that two Georgia women died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills. The stories of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller entered into the presidential race, with Democrat Kamala Harris saying the deaths were the result of the abortion bans that went into effect in Georgia and elsewhere after Dobbs.

Georgia lawmakers, in February, weighed a bill that could potentially ban abortions in all instances and would prohibit in-vitro fertilizations.

If it passed, House Bill 441 (2025-26 legislation) would charge a mother with the "murder … of unborn children." The bill would additionally "remove exceptions that allow for assault and battery on an unborn child" and would benefit a child's rights from fertilization, it stated.

HB 441 never made it out of the House prior to the Georgia General Assembly's recess.

Includes reporting from The Associated Press.