Adriana Smith, a 31-year-old nurse from Atlanta, Georgia, was declared brain-dead in February 2025 after suffering blood clots in her brain following a medical emergency. Despite her condition, she was kept on life support at Emory University Hospital due to Georgia’s strict abortion law, which bans abortions after cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks, and grants personhood rights to fetuses. Smith, who was about nine weeks pregnant at the time, was maintained on life support to allow her fetus to develop, against her family’s wishes, who were told they had no legal say in the matter.

Her mother, April Newkirk, described the ordeal as torturous, noting the emotional toll of seeing her daughter’s body kept alive solely to incubate the fetus. The baby, named Chance, was delivered prematurely via emergency cesarean section on June 13, 2025, at approximately 24 weeks, weighing 1 pound 13 ounces, and is now in the neonatal intensive care unit with an uncertain prognosis due to potential health issues, including fluid on the brain.

Smith was taken off life support on June 17, 2025. Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr clarified that the state’s abortion law, the LIFE Act, does not require keeping a brain-dead woman on life support, as removing life support is not equivalent to terminating a pregnancy.

However, Emory Hospital, citing compliance with Georgia’s abortion laws, maintained Smith’s life support, highlighting a legal gray area and differing interpretations of the law’s fetal personhood provisions.

The case sparked significant controversy, with advocates and medical experts questioning the ethics of prioritizing fetal viability over family autonomy and medical consent, especially given the low likelihood of a healthy newborn in such circumstances.