Georgia Law Overrides Brain Death

May 19th, 2025

Sharikkaa Shanker

A Georgia woman declared brain dead earlier this year is being kept on life support against her family's wishes due to the state’s abortion restrictions, igniting national debate over reproductive rights, legal personhood, and end-of-life care.

Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother of one, was nine weeks pregnant when she began experiencing intense headaches in February. She was initially dismissed at a local emergency room and sent home. The following day, she collapsed and was rushed back to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with extensive cerebral blood clots. Within days, Smith was declared brain dead — a legal definition of death in Georgia.

However, her pregnancy has legally complicated the situation. Due to Georgia’s “heartbeat law,” which bans abortion once fetal cardiac activity is detected (typically around six weeks,) the hospital has refused to remove life-sustaining treatment. According to Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, hospital staff cited legal obligations under state law to maintain Smith’s bodily functions in order to allow the fetus to continue developing.

“They told us that even though my daughter is dead, they couldn’t turn off the machines,” Newkirk said in an interview. “She didn’t want this. We didn’t want this. But the law doesn’t care.”

Georgia’s 2019 abortion law, officially known as the “Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act,” recognizes an embryo or fetus with a detectable heartbeat as a person under state law. It includes limited exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, and incest — but offers no clear legal protocol for cases involving brain death.

Legal scholars and ethicists say the case exposes gaps in the law that lawmakers may not have anticipated. “There is no real legal clarity in Georgia for this kind of situation,” said Dr. Melissa Grant, a bioethicist at Emory University. “Once a person is declared brain dead, they are legally deceased. But because the fetus has cardiac activity, the state is treating the body as a vessel for a second person. That raises serious ethical and constitutional questions.” Smith’s body has now been kept functioning via mechanical support for more than 10 weeks. The fetus is currently at 21 weeks gestation — still short of the 24 to 25 weeks considered potentially viable outside the womb, and far from full term. Doctors have expressed concern about the health of the fetus, reporting abnormalities including fluid buildup in the brain.

Her family, devastated and frustrated, has had to endure weeks of uncertainty while also planning for Smith’s eventual funeral. They are also grappling with the possibility of becoming caregivers to a severely premature and potentially medically fragile baby — all while mourning the loss of their daughter. “This isn’t pro-life,” said Newkirk. “This is cruelty. This is control. And it’s costing us everything.”

Reproductive rights advocates say the case is emblematic of the wider impact of restrictive abortion laws enacted in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. States like Georgia now have significant discretion to regulate or ban abortion, and many laws lack clear language to address complex medical and legal scenarios.

“This case is not an anomaly — it’s a warning,” said Kendra Lee, director of the Georgia Reproductive Justice Coalition. “When lawmakers write laws with ideology instead of medicine in mind, real people suffer.” The hospital involved has declined to comment on the specifics of Smith’s case, citing patient confidentiality. However, they confirmed they are complying with state law and awaiting further legal or medical developments.

As the fetus approaches potential viability, the family continues to wait. If the fetus survives and is delivered, Smith’s body will likely be removed from life support shortly afterward. Until then, her family remains in limbo — watching a machine breathe for someone already gone.

Extemp question: How should reproductive rights groups like Planned Parenthood react to the recent use of abortion law in Georgia?