In collaboration with Adriana Smith’s family, Georgia Reproductive Justice organizations, and allies are gathering on Sunday, June 15th, to honor Adriana’s life on what would have been her 31st birthday. Adriana Smith, a Black woman, nurse, and mother from the Atlanta area, was declared brain dead while approximately nine weeks pregnant after her health concerns were dismissed and she was denied the care she deserved. Deceased, her body remains on a ventilator to sustain her pregnancy.
Georgia’s six-week abortion ban and the pregnancy exclusion laws for advance directives create a complicated and unpredictable legal environment that disrupts the necessary standard of care for patients, families, and providers. Far too many Black women in Georgia have not received the healthcare they deserve. Instead, Black women continue to shoulder the burden of the maternal mortality crisis in Georgia. Adriana’s story is inextricable from the recent and preventable tragic deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller.
Georgia is a state with a “heartbeat bill,” also known as the LIFE Act. This law bans abortions after there is a detectable fetal heartbeat (usually at six weeks). The law recognizes an embryo or fetus as a person after six weeks of development. A fetus can be claimed as a dependent for the purposes of Georgia state taxes.
Adriana went to a hospital last February with severe headaches. She appeared to have had brain bleeds but was not given a full neurological workup during this initial visit. She was back again and transferred to Emory University Hospital where, as it happens, she worked as a nurse. A CT scan there revealed multiple blood clots in her brain. She deteriorated and was eventually declared brain dead. She was then moved to Emory Midtown. She was nine weeks pregnant when she died, but she remains on life-supporting technologies. Images of the fetus indicate abnormalities.
“This terrible tragedy is … tied up with uncertain facts, arguably bad state legislation, abortion politics, and even confusion over patient rights. What ought to be clear is that the proper categorization of using dead bodies as incubators for embryos or very young fetuses is nothing but an experiment. As such, there is no obligation on anyone’s part to conduct it,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan a medical ethics expert at Medical Ethics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Instead of celebrating another year with Adriana, her family will gather with Georgia Reproductive Justice organizations and allies to commemorate her 31st birthday and demand justice for what is happening to Adriana and her family. Attendees will be able to release balloons, lift prayers, and rally to ensure that no more Black women are silenced in their most vulnerable moments.
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