Adriana Smith Deserved Peace: Not Politics, Not Machines

What’s happening in Georgia should shake us all.

Let’s talk about what’s happening to Adriana Smith—a 30-year-old Black mother, nurse, daughter, and human being—because the silence around it is deafening.

Adriana was nine weeks pregnant when she started experiencing intense headaches. She went to Northside Hospital in

Atlanta looking for help. They gave her meds. No CT scan. No further investigation. They sent her home.

The next morning, she was found unresponsive. Rushed to Emory University Hospital, doctors discovered blood clots in her brain. She was declared brain-dead. Let that sink in—brain-dead. That’s not a coma. That’s not “maybe she’ll wake up.” That’s legally and medically dead.

But instead of being able to say goodbye, instead of letting Adriana pass with dignity, her family is being forced to keep her body on machines. Why? Because she was pregnant. Because Georgia’s cruel “heartbeat law” now defines a fetus as a person with rights—rights that apparently trump those of the dead woman carrying it.

Let’s call this what it is: inhumane.

Adriana’s body is not a vessel. She was a person. She is a person. And now, her family has to visit her lifeless body hooked up to tubes, machines pumping blood and oxygen into her purely to sustain the pregnancy until 32 weeks. Because under the law, that fetus—named Chance—is considered a citizen of Georgia. A citizen with more legal standing than his deceased mother.

This is not just a tragedy—it’s a dystopian nightmare.

It is The Handmaid’s Tale brought to life.

In Margaret Atwood’s chilling novel, women are stripped of their autonomy and reduced to their reproductive capacity. Many thought it was a warning—fictional, exaggerated. But here we are. A dead woman is being used by the state to incubate a fetus against the wishes of her family. Her body is being governed by law even in death. What would have seemed outrageous just a decade ago is now cold, clinical policy.

Can you imagine the anguish? Her mother, April Newkirk, calls it “torture”—and she’s right. They are mourning their daughter while being legally bound to keep her body functioning like an incubator. Not because they want to. Because the state demands it.

This isn’t hypothetical. This isn’t a “what if” scenario. This is happening right now in a hospital in Georgia. Because of a law designed to control women’s bodies, even in death.

And it’s not just Georgia. Laws like these are spreading like wildfire across the country—crafted without compassion, pushed by politicians who will never experience what it means to lose bodily autonomy. They don’t care about real families. They care about control.

Adriana Smith deserved better. Her family deserves better. And if we stay silent, we’re saying this is okay. That this is just how it is.

We cannot let this be normal.

This is political. It's always been political. And if lawmakers have the power to strip a woman of her rights—even after death—then we have the power and responsibility to fight back. Talk about Adriana’s story. Share it. Make people uncomfortable—because silence only protects the status quo. Support reproductive justice organizations like SisterSong and Planned Parenthood who are fighting on the front lines every single day. And above all, vote like lives depend on it—because they do. Adriana deserved dignity. Her family deserved the right to grieve. If we don’t speak up now, we are complicit in letting this happen again. Don’t look away. Do something.

By Emma Goos

Barry, Ellen. “Pregnant and Brain-Dead, a Georgia Woman Is Kept Alive Against Her Family’s Wishes.” The New York Times, 17 May 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/us/georgia-adriana-smith-brain-dead.html.

Edelman, Adam. “Georgia Mother Being Kept on Life Support Due to State Abortion Law, Family Says.” NBC News, 17 May 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-mother-kept-life-support-abortion-law-family-rcna153614.

Redden, Molly. “Pregnant Georgia Woman Declared Brain-Dead Is Kept on Life Support under State Abortion Law.” The Guardian, 19 May 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/19/georgia-woman-brain-dead-pregnant-abortion-law.

Freeman, Morgan. “A Black Woman in Georgia Was Declared Brain-Dead. The State Is Forcing Her to Stay on Life Support.” Ms. Magazine, 18 May 2025, https://msmagazine.com/2025/05/18/adriana-smith-georgia-brain-dead-abortion-law-black-women-healthcare.