What is the Georgia abortion law that forced doctors to keep a brain-dead woman alive? Explaining the LIFE Act
A pregnant Atlanta nurse suffered severe headaches but was not properly diagnosed due to Georgia's LIFE Act, and now declared brain dead.
Just in early February, 30-year-old Adriana Smith, a nine-week pregnant nurse, began experiencing severe headaches. She visited a local hospital, but her mother, April Newkirk, says doctors didn’t take the symptoms seriously enough.
Why? Cause Georgia's Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, originally passed in 2019 but enacted in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned, is now at the centre of the tragedy for Smith's family.
“They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” Newkirk told 11Alive. “If they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented.”
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The following morning, Smith’s boyfriend found her in distress, gasping and making gurgling sounds in her sleep. She was rushed to the hospital, where a CT scan revealed multiple blood clots in her brain. Doctors prepared for surgery, but it was too late. Smith was declared brain dead. Yet more than 90 days later, she remains on life support.
Georgia abortion law forces a mother to keep her brain-dead daughter alive
Under the LIFE Act, abortion is banned after a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically around six weeks. The law only allows exceptions in cases of rape, incest, severe fetal abnormalities, or if a “medical emergency” threatens the life or irreversible physical health of the pregnant woman.
However, Smith’s case is a bit murky; she is brain-dead, doctors reportedly told the family she no longer qualifies as a medical emergency, meaning the law prohibits them from ending the pregnancy, even if the mother has no chance of recovery.
“She’s been breathing through machines for more than 90 days,” Newkirk said. “It’s torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there. And her son — I bring him to see her.”
Newkirk explained that her grandson still believes his mother is “just sleeping.” She said doctors plan to keep Smith alive until 32 weeks of gestation, another 11 weeks from now, so the baby has a chance of surviving outside the womb.
“They’re hoping to get the baby to at least 32 weeks,” she said. “But every day that goes by, it’s more cost, more trauma, more questions.”
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“I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision,” she said. “And if not, then their partner or their parents.”
“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,” Newkirk said.
“This decision should’ve been left to us. Now we’re left wondering what kind of life he’ll have — and we’re going to be the ones raising him.”
