Adriana Smith, a 30 year old nurse was declared brain dead over four months ago, at the time, 21 weeks pregnant. However, Georgia state abortion law is forcing her to remain on life support and medical staff at Emory Hospital continue to ignore her family’s requests to allow her to rest. Adriana had blood clots in her brain. Her family says that the hospital ignored her symptoms, refused to do a CT scan, and she was discharged with medication. The next morning, she collapsed and was pronounced brain dead. Now, Georgia’s “Heartbeat Law” has turned her body into state property. Doctors are legally required to keep her body breathing, again, against her family’s wishes, until the fetus reaches viability at 32 weeks. This totals 11 more weeks of machines, trauma for her family, and escalating medical bills, which her family will be forced to pay, not the state. It is unclear whether the fetus will even survive. Adriana’s mother, April Newkirk says, "My grandson may be blind, may not be able to walk, we don't know if he'll live once she has him, and I'm not saying we would have chose to terminate her pregnancy. What I'm saying is we should have had a choice." Ed Setzler, a Republican state senator who sponsored the 2019 bill, said he thinks it's "completely appropriate that the hospital do what they can to save the life of the child”. This action is directly related to the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which eliminated federal protection of abortion, leaving it up to the state to make decisions about women’s bodies regardless of what they might choose. It was never about choice. It was about how much control our government can maintain over the bodies of women and fems. We must hold Georgia state and it’s lawmakers accountable for this injustice and demand that they respect her family’s wishes. Adriana Smith must be allowed to rest, and this cannot happen again. 
References: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5405542/a-brain-dead-womans-pregnancy-raises-questions-about-georgias-abortion-law