Family members of Adriana Smith, a brain-dead woman in Georgia, say their choice to end Smith’s life support has been out of reach for three months and counting because she is pregnant — and doctors in the state are legally obligated to try to deliver a baby that can survive outside the womb.
Georgia is one of several states with extreme health care laws on the books that make it illegal to end a pregnancy in nearly all cases.
Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, described her daughter’s condition this week to Atlanta news station 11Alive as their medical bills stack up while they are unable to fully mourn their loss.
“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” Newkirk told the outlet. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there. And her son, I bring him to see her.”
The family comes to visit daily, the outlet reported, adding that Smith’s young son has been told his mother is sleeping.
Newkirk said she has been told there is fluid on the unborn baby’s brain, meaning it is not clear what kind of life the child would have.
“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,” Newkirk said.
She told 11Alive that her daughter, a 30-year-old nurse, had sought medical care from Atlanta’s Northside Hospital after experiencing strong headaches in February.
“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” Newkirk said.
She said that doctors should have figured out that blood clots in Smith’s brain were causing the headaches and should have kept her at the hospital overnight to monitor her condition. Instead, she was sent home, only to be rushed back to the hospital the next morning. Doctors later declared her brain-dead.
Georgia’s abortion ban, passed in 2019, went into effect after the Supreme Court eliminated the nationwide right to abortion protections in 2022. With very limited exceptions, it prevents doctors from ending a pregnancy after around six weeks.
Smith’s mother told 11Alive that Smith is at around 21 weeks’ gestation. The point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb is usually considered to be 32 weeks, so medical workers are expected to induce labor in the unconscious woman then.
Reproductive rights advocates including the group SisterSong sued the state of Georgia over its harsh abortion ban in 2022; the case is still pending in state district court due to legal questions over the parties’ standing.
One of the lead plaintiffs, SisterSong Executive Director Monica Simpson, said in a statement that “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. Adriana Smith was a mother, daughter, and nurse who deserved a healthy pregnancy,” Simpson continued.
“First, Adriana deserved to be trusted by her health care professionals. Second, her family deserved the right to have decision-making power about her medical decisions. Instead, they have endured over 90 days of retraumatization, expensive medical costs, and the cruelty of being unable to resolve and move toward healing.”