Georgia Brain-Dead Woman's Life Support Stirs Debate

Adriana Smith, a 31-year-old Atlanta nurse, was declared brain-dead in February after suffering blood clots while nine weeks pregnant and was kept on life support for four months due to Georgia’s strict abortion laws. Hospital staff cited the LIFE Act, which bans most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, in refusing to remove life support despite her family's wishes. On June 13, Smith gave birth via emergency C-section to a premature baby boy, Chance, weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces, who remains in the NICU but is expected to recover. Smith was removed from life support on June 17. State officials later clarified that the law does not explicitly require maintaining life support for brain-dead women, but hospitals feared legal repercussions. The case has drawn national attention, highlighting the emotional and legal complexities families and doctors face under restrictive abortion laws.