An Atlanta family is speaking out after being forced to keep their brain-dead daughter on life support for more than three months—all because she was pregnant when she died.
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother of one, was around nine weeks pregnant when she began suffering from severe headaches in February. Her mother, April Newkirk, says they took the symptoms seriously and brought her to a local hospital, but the care she received fell short.
“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” Newkirk told 11Alive. “If they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented.”
By the next morning, Smith’s boyfriend found her unconscious and struggling to breathe. She was rushed back to the hospital, where doctors discovered multiple blood clots in her brain. Before they could operate, it was too late—Smith was declared brain dead.
That was more than 90 days ago.
Because of Georgia’s strict abortion law, which bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, doctors told the family they are legally required to keep Smith alive on machines 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.”
Even more heartbreaking, Smith’s young son visits her bedside, unaware of the truth. “He thinks she’s just sleeping,” her mother shared.
Under current Georgia law, a “medical emergency” is the only exception to the abortion ban—but Smith’s case falls into a legal gray area. Doctors have reportedly told the family that, because Smith is already brain dead, they are not allowed to consider other options or remove life support.
Newkirk believes the law strips families of their ability to make decisions in impossible situations. “I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,” she said. “And if not, then their partner or their parents.”
