Adriana Smith was a thirty year old nurse from Georgia, United States. Unfortunately, she was declared brain dead two months into her pregnancy this year. Despite this debilitating medical complication, she is currently being kept on life support at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital.
Earlier this year, Smith was experiencing extreme headaches. Through a CT scan at the hospital she worked at, Emory University Hospital, it was revealed that there were blood clots present in her brain. This neurological condition caused her to deteriorate over time and she was eventually pronounced brain dead with no chance of recovery as she was approaching nine weeks of pregnancy.
In light of the fall of Roe v. Wade, the Georgian LIFE act, or heartbeat bill, has now been fully enforced across the state of Georgia. The law essentially prevents abortions after there is a detectable fetal heartbeat, which is common at six weeks. Bearing this in mind, the Emory University Hospital transferred Adriana Smith into Emory Midtown after she passed to put her on life support. This was done to avoid criminal charges upon the hospital in regards to the fetus.
According to television station 11Alive, Smith will be on life support until 32 weeks of gestation, sometime this August, in hopes that the baby could be delivered prematurely through a caesarean section. According to Emory Healthcare this choice was made as, “Emory Healthcare uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers as they make individualized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia's abortion laws and all other applicable laws.” However, Smith’s family members were not involved in this decision. Stated by her mother, April Newkirk, “I'm not saying we would have chose to terminate her pregnancy. What I'm saying is we should have had a choice.” Furthermore, the cost of the life supporting technologies required could potentially cost her family a fortune on top of the fees needed to support Smith’s current seven year old son.
Many authorities and professionals, alongside the public, are voicing their concerns from opposing sides over this ethical controversy.
Democratic State Senator Nabilah Islam Parkes wrote a letter to Georgia's Republican Attorney General Chris Carr expressing that "this is a grotesque distortion of medical ethics and human decency…”
Chriss Carr then responded that “Removing life support is not an action with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy.” Which reflects the notion that no abortion law in Georgia requires hospitals to put pregnant people on life support until the child can be delivered.
On the other hand, also from a Republican, State Senator Ed Setzler wrote in a statement that “I think it is completely appropriate that the hospital do what they can to save the life of the child.” and “I think this is an unusual circumstance, but I think it highlights the value of innocent human life. I think the hospital is acting appropriately.” This means he believes that the medical professionals involved are right, despite lacking the family’s consent to proceed with life support.
As this case continues, so do the challenges that Adriana Smith’s families face. Steven Ralston, the director of the maternal fetal medicine division at George Washington University, told the Washington Post that “The chances of there being a healthy newborn at the end of this is very, very small.” Knowing this, April Newkirk claimed that the family had named the child Chance. Additionally, she asserted that “Right now, the journey is for baby Chance to survive. Whatever condition God allows him to come here in, we’re going to love him just the same.”
Bibliography
Caplan, A. (2025). Blog - The Adriana Smith Case Unfolding in Atlanta Raises Many Questions - Bioethics Today. [online] Bioethics Today. Available at: https://bioethicstoday.org/blog/the-adriana-smith-case-unfolding-in-atlanta-raises-many-questions/ [Accessed 3 Jun. 2025].
Gringlas, S. (2025). A brain-dead woman’s pregnancy raises questions about Georgia’s abortion law. [online] NPR. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5405542/a-brain-dead-womans-pregnancy-raises-questions-about-georgias-abortion-law [Accessed 3 Jun. 2025].
Sherman, C. (2025). Fetus of brain dead Georgia woman kept alive due to abortion ban is growing, says family. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/20/pregnant-georgia-woman-brain-dead [Accessed 3 Jun. 2025].