At just nine weeks pregnant, Adriana Smith, 30, sought urgent medical help after suffering from severe headaches. But instead of thorough tests, the hospital simply handed her medication and sent her home, according to a report by 11Alive, an NBC affiliate. The following morning, her boyfriend awoke to unsettling gargling noises—signs of internal bleeding. She was immediately rushed to another hospital where a CT scan uncovered blood clots in her brain. Shortly thereafter, Adriana was declared brain dead, meaning that legally, she was no longer alive.
Yet despite the devastating diagnosis, Adriana’s body remains on life support. Why? Because her pregnancy had passed Georgia’s strict six-week abortion limit by three weeks, and the state’s law forbids doctors from ending it, even in extreme circumstances.
Her mother, April Newkirk, described the agony to 11Alive: “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there.”
This heartbreaking case exposes the grim consequences of policies crafted by Georgia Republicans—policies that reduce women to mere vessels, stripping them of autonomy and dignity. Medical experts had warned that such laws would create tragic, complex situations like Adriana’s. Yet those warnings were ignored. Now, a family faces unbearable emotional pain along with overwhelming financial strain.
Adriana has been on life support for over three months, with her pregnancy advancing to 21 weeks. The doctors plan to attempt delivery when she reaches 32 weeks. Until then, her body is being kept alive, forced to serve as a womb for the unborn child. Her mother fears the baby may suffer serious health issues, possibly due to fluid on the brain.
“This decision should’ve been ours,” April said. “Now we’re left to wonder what kind of life this baby will have—and we’ll be the ones raising him.”
Adriana’s living son visits her regularly, believing she is simply asleep. The family faces a surreal reality: they cannot hold a funeral or say goodbye because legally, her body is still alive, sustained by machines.
Whether they would have chosen to end the pregnancy is uncertain, but that option was never on the table. Doctors are bound by Georgia’s abortion ban, which restricts terminations after six weeks. Had Roe v. Wade still been in effect, they could have made that choice. Instead, lawmakers deem Adriana no longer in “imminent danger,” a condition that would otherwise allow abortion in life-threatening situations.
Imagine if this were your daughter—a mother, a partner, a human being—treated as less than human to protect the fetus growing inside her. Imagine watching her lifeless body forced to breathe, unable to plan a funeral or grieve. Imagine knowing that bringing a child into the world means losing your loved one forever.
Sadly, Adriana’s case is far from isolated. Since Georgia’s abortion restrictions took effect in 2022, tragedies like this have occurred before. ProPublica revealed last year that two women died due to pregnancy- and abortion-related complications following the ban. Yet despite these devastating outcomes, Republicans continue to oppose abortion rights, disregarding the real dangers imposed on women.
This is the stark new reality they fought to create. Even faced with such heartbreak, many refuse to accept accountability.
Georgia Senator Ed Setzler, a sponsor of the six-week abortion ban, defended the law to the Associated Press: “I think this is an unusual circumstance, but I think it highlights the value of innocent human life. I think the hospital is acting appropriately.”
What’s overlooked in these political debates is that at nine weeks, Adriana’s fetus was barely beyond the embryo stage and incapable of surviving independently. The wrenching decision over life and death should never be in the hands of lawmakers removed from the emotional and financial toll. That choice belonged to the family alone.
Adriana Smith’s story reveals the brutal human cost of restrictive abortion laws—where compassion and common sense are sacrificed for ideology, and families pay the highest price.
