In Georgia, a Black pregnant woman declared brain dead after a medical emergency is being kept on life support for three months so that her fetus can develop — a course of action over which her family says they have been given no choice because of the state’s strict anti-abortion law.
According to the Associated Press, the case could become one of the longest sustained pregnancies of a brain-dead woman, with the due date still months away. The family of the Atlanta woman, Adriana Smith, says they’ve been left powerless, as Georgia’s abortion ban — triggered once fetal cardiac activity is detected — doesn’t give them the right to decide whether life support should continue.
Smith’s family has not publicly taken any positions on whether they want to terminate her life support, but her mother, April Newkirk, told 11Alive that not being given a choice has compounded their trauma.
Georgia’s abortion law is part of a wave of restrictive abortion measures adopted in conservative states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade three years ago. Smith’s case comes at a time when Black women in the state are disproportionately impacted by maternal health issues and limited abortion access.
In 2021, Georgia had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That same year, there were more than twice as many pregnancy-related deaths among Black women as white women in the state, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Additionally, Black residents in the state receive abortions at a higher rate than white residents: In 2023 about 66% of abortions performed in the state were on Black women.
How Smith fell ill
The family has started a GoFundMe to help cover the costs for Smith’s medical care. Newkirk, who is the organizer of the GoFundMe page, wrote that the situation has been “deeply saddening and heartbreaking.”
“Adriana has [a] 7 year old son and family … who’s broken and we’re asking for prayers and support during this time. Anything helps!” Newkirk pleads.
The page details how Smith became ill. It says she complained about a headache days prior to going to two hospitals, but was given medication with no tests or “proper examination.” It says Smith was later found unresponsive, and was declared brain dead on Feb. 19, when she was only two months pregnant.
The family will have to wait for months to find out if the baby will be born with major disabilities.
How are leaders responding?
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., issued a statement Friday about Smith’s case, calling the situation “gut-wrenching” and a consequence of the state’s restrictive abortion measures.
“Adriana Smith and her family deserve better. For more than 90 days, her loved ones have been forced to watch her endure unnecessary medical interventions — unable to say goodbye, unable to honor Adriana’s dignity, and unable to make the decisions that should be theirs,” Williams said.
“Everyone deserves the freedom to decide what’s best for their families, futures, and lives. Instead, anti-abortion politicians like Donald Trump and Governor Brian Kemp are forcing people through unimaginable pain.”
Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, a reproductive rights group, said in a statement that Smith “deserved a healthy pregnancy.”
“It is deadly to be Black and pregnant in a state where reproductive care is limited and criminalized. Nearly half of Georgia’s counties are reproductive care deserts, all while looming Medicaid cuts threaten to worsen access to care,” Simpson said.
“Black women must be trusted when it comes to our health care decisions,” she added.
State Sen. Ed Setzler, an Acworth Republican who sponsored Georgia’s abortion law, defended it, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I’m proud that the hospital recognizes the full value of the small human life living inside of this regrettably dying young mother,” he said. “Mindful of the agony of this young mother’s family, the wisdom of modern medical science to be able to save the life of a healthy unborn child is something that I trust in future years will lead to great joy, with this child having a chance to grow into vibrant adulthood.”
How abortion bans have affected Black women from Georgia
Smith’s case comes less than a year after reports were made public about two Black women in Georgia, Candi Miller and Amber Nicole Thurman, who died after trying home abortions.
Miller and Thurman died after Georgia’s anti-abortion law was instituted, which advocates say can be blamed for the women’s deaths.
Miller was a 41-year-old mother of three whose chronic health issues threatened her unexpected pregnancy in 2022. A medical examiner’s autopsy failed to determine the exact cause of Miller’s death, which came after she took abortion pills. But medical records noted she ingested a “lethal combination of painkillers” after refusing to see a doctor due to Georgia’s abortion law, according to ProPublica, which cited accounts given by Miller’s family along with medical records stating she “had no history of drug use.”
Thurman was a 28-year-old aspiring nurse who died of septic shock in August 2022 after doctors in North Carolina apparently declined to perform a common dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure to remove fetal tissue from her uterus following her taking abortion pills in Georgia.
Staff writer Chauncey Alcorn contributed to this report.
This story has been updated.
