A heartbreaking case out of Georgia has left many in shock, after a pregnant Black woman who was declared brain dead was kept on life support for months because doctors feared breaking the state’s strict abortion laws. Her baby, delivered prematurely, is now in intensive care, while the woman’s life support was finally removed just days later.
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse, began experiencing severe headaches in February while nine weeks pregnant. She was initially sent home with only a prescription. The next morning, things took a tragic turn. She was rushed to the hospital where she worked, and doctors found multiple blood clots in her brain. Not long after, she was declared brain dead.
In many other places, the family would have been able to decide how to proceed. But Georgia’s abortion law, which bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, left Smith’s doctors too afraid to act. Because she was nine weeks along, any decision that could have ended the pregnancy might have been seen as illegal.
Her mother, April Newkirk, was left devastated and powerless. “This decision should’ve been left to us,” she told WXIA-TV back in May. “I’m not saying that we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, what I’m saying is: we should have had a choice.”
On Friday 13 June, Smith gave birth to her son via emergency C-section at 4:41am. He was named Chance. Born prematurely, he weighed just 1 pound and 13 ounces, and is now being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit, reported NBC News. A few days later, on Tuesday, Smith’s life support was finally turned off.
Smith’s story has caught national attention in a country still bitterly divided over abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v Wade. Since then, over 20 states have rolled back access to abortion, and many, including Georgia, now have laws that leave doctors unsure what they’re legally allowed to do, even in extreme cases like this.
Three Democratic congresswomen — Nikema Williams, Ayanna Pressley, and Sara Jacobs — released a statement confirming Chance’s birth and Smith’s passing. They’re also calling for stronger protections for pregnant women, particularly Black women, who often face higher risks and poorer outcomes due to what they call systemic neglect and harsh laws.
“The lack of a formal legal opinion or prosecutorial guidance leaves families and doctors in limbo,” they said, pointing out how restrictive laws can tie the hands of even the most experienced medical teams during critical moments.
The congresswomen are now backing a resolution in Congress that aims to make sure no other family is forced to endure what Smith’s has — having to watch their loved one kept alive in a vegetative state simply because the law leaves no room for compassion or common sense.
Smith’s case highlights the human toll of abortion restrictions and the difficult, deeply personal decisions that are now being dictated by state laws rather than left to families and doctors.