Adriana Smith Deserved Better
After being declared brain-dead, Adriana Smith was kept on life support for months due to Georgia’s abortion law. Her story is a powerful call for reproductive justice and legal reform.
Dear Friends,
I’m writing today to share a deeply painful story that has shocked our community and reverberated across Georgia and beyond. It’s the story of Adriana Smith, a 30-year old beloved registered nurse and mother, whose life was taken under harrowing circumstances, yet her child lives on. We must honor her memory by ensuring no one else faces the same ordeal.
What Happened?
In February of 2025, while just nine weeks pregnant, Adriana suffered life-threatening blood clots in her brain. Despite repeated ER visits, a CT scan was not ordered, and she was sent home. Soon after, she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined she was legally brain-dead on February 19.
Under Georgia’s 2022 LIFE Act (the six-week abortion ban tied to fetal “personhood”), Emory doctors informed the family that they were legally required to maintain life support, not because mediation was effective, but because the fetus still had a heartbeat. The family had no choice.
On June 13, 2025, after four months on life support, Adriana delivered her son, Chance, via emergency C-section at just 25 weeks. He weighed 1 lb 13 oz and remains in the NICU, then on June 17, 2025, Life support was withdrawn. Adriana passed away peacefully on June 17, and on June 28 her community gathered to remember her at a moving celebration of life in Lithonia.
Why This Matters:
Loss of Autonomy: Adriana’s family was denied the right to decide the future of her medical treatment, despite her legal death and clearly expressed values. A mother should not be forced to continue life support under someone else’s definition of life.
Legal and Ethical Gray Zones: Georgia’s abortion law does not explicitly mandate life support in brain death, but medical institutions proceeded as though it did. This confusion puts doctors in ethically untenable positions.
Reproductive Justice & Racial Disparities: Black women in Georgia already face disproportionately high maternal mortality rates. Adriana’s tragic death exposes how restrictive laws and systemic neglect disproportionately harm Black mothers.
A National Wake-up Call: This case isn’t isolated; it has sparked policy discussions in Congress and across states leveling demands for regulatory clarity, reproductive autonomy, and protections for maternal rights.
As your candidate for State House, I stand firm, determined to:
Clarify Georgia’s law to ensure no one is forced to remain on life support following brain death.
Expand maternal healthcare, including postpartum coverage and systemic reforms addressing the racial health gap.
Uphold bodily autonomy, giving families, not the state, the final say in medical decisions.
Let me be abundantly clear, Adriana’s life, and her child’s future, deserves justice. Let her legacy be a spark systematic change in Georgia.
Join our campaign to safeguard maternal rights and fight healthcare inequalities. Here’s how you can help:
Volunteer with us
Support Adriana’s family fund (their GoFundMe has raised over $475,000)
Contact your legislators using our partner, 5 Calls
Together, we can build a Georgia where no mother is denied dignity, where every family has a voice, and where maternal deaths are a thing of the past.