An Atlanta family is speaking out after being forced to keep their pregnant, brain-dead daughter alive due to Georgia’s strict abortion laws. For more than 90 days, Adriana Smith has been on life support, despite being declared brain dead, because of the state’s legal stance on terminating pregnancies.
Smith, a 30-year-old registered nurse and mother, was around nine weeks pregnant when she began experiencing severe headaches in early February. Concerned something was wrong, she went to a local hospital.
“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” her mother, April Newkirk, told 11Alive. “If they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented.”
The next morning, Smith’s boyfriend found her gasping for air and making gurgling sounds in her sleep, symptoms they believe were caused by internal bleeding. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered multiple blood clots in her brain. Before they could operate, Smith was declared brain dead.
Despite her condition, doctors informed the family that state law requires Smith to stay on life support until the fetus reaches viability.
“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” Newkirk said. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there. And her son, I bring him to see her.”
Newkirk added that her young grandson believes his mother is simply “just sleeping.”
Georgia’s abortion ban, enacted after the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade, prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy unless there is a medical emergency or if the pregnancy is considered medically futile. The law defines a medical emergency as a condition requiring an abortion to prevent the death or irreversible physical impairment of the pregnant woman.
First she was sent away without a workup for severe headaches. Now she’s brain dead and being kept on life support for months on end in Georgia – essentially to incubate the fetus. This is a frightening and cruel experiment being done without the family’s consent. 💔 pic.twitter.com/iiygmlZAYg
— Noha Aboelata, MD (@NohaAboelataMD) May 15, 2025
However, Smith’s case appears to fall into a legal gray area. Since she is brain dead, doctors reportedly told the family that she is no longer considered to be in immediate danger, and they are legally obligated to continue life support.
“I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,” Newkirk said. “And if not, then their partner or their parents.”
Newkirk clarified that the family isn’t sure what decision they would have made if given the choice, but not being allowed to choose has been its own trauma.
“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,” she 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.”
Smith is now 21 weeks pregnant. Doctors have told the family they plan to keep her on life support until the fetus reaches 32 weeks, when the baby would be more likely to survive outside the womb.
“They’re hoping to get the baby to at least 32 weeks,” Newkirk said. “But every day that goes by, it’s more cost, more trauma, more questions.”
