Adriana Smith was declared brain dead on February 19, when she was two months pregnant, according to her mother’s fundraiser.
Under Georgia’s anti-abortion laws, the 30-year-old woman will have to remain on life support until the fetus can be delivered.
The pregnancy has now reached its fifth month, and the case has been of significant interest following the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Smith’s mother wrote that her family has been left with little control over the situation, and they are concerned that the baby will be born with disabilities or conditions that may threaten the infant’s survival.
“It should have been left up to the family,” April Newkirk, Smith’s mother, said to NBC affiliate WXIA-TV. “I’m not saying that we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, but what I’m saying is, we should have had a choice.”
"This journey has been deeply saddening and heartbreaking since February 9th. My daughter's hospitalization has turned our world upside down,” Newkirk wrote on the fundraiser. “Adriana was only 2 months old when placed on support and was given no choice to wait for months to find out the baby would suffer a disease which would lead to major disabilities.
Adriana has a 7-year-old son and a family behind left who’s broken, and we’re asking for prayers and support during this time. Anything helps!”
The fundraiser has just exceeded $50,000, less than a fifth of its $275,000 target.
How did Adriana Smith become brain-dead?
Newkirk claimed her daughter went into the hospital in February following intense headaches. She was released from Northside Hospital with medication shortly after.
Newkirk complained that the hospital had not run any tests or scans of her daughter prior to discharging her and a day later, she was rushed to Emory University Hospital, where multiple blood clots were discovered in her brain.
Smith has remained on a breathing machine, keeping her alive since. Efforts are expected to continue until the pregnancy reaches its 32nd week, when the baby can be safely delivered.
“It’s torture for me,” Newkirk said. “I see my daughter breathing, but she’s not there.”
Georgia’s anti-abortion legislation, first adopted in 2019 but later coming into effect after the Supreme Court’s decision, prevents abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, typically in the sixth week of pregnancy.