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15h ago

Brain-Dead Georgia Nurse’s Life Support Ended After Premature C-Section Delivery

Georgia’s six-week abortion ban required her to remain on life support until specialists could perform an emergency cesarean to deliver her preemie son.

Smith’s mother said her daughter had to stay on life support until she gave birth because of Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, which has narrow exceptions for rape, incest or the life or health of the pregnant person.
Adriana Smith, 31, developed a severe headache in February at nine weeks pregnant. It was a sign of blood clots in her brain.
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Overview

  • Adriana Smith was declared brain-dead at eight weeks pregnant in February after suffering blood clots and was kept on ventilators under Georgia’s LIFE Act until her removal on June 17.
  • Doctors delivered her son, Chance, via emergency cesarean on June 13 at roughly 26 weeks; the 1-pound-13-ounce infant is in the neonatal intensive care unit and is expected to recover.
  • Smith’s family says they were never offered the option to withdraw life support earlier, arguing that the law’s unclear language stripped them of their right to make medical decisions.
  • Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has stated that the LIFE Act does not explicitly require maintaining brain-dead patients on support, underscoring ongoing legal ambiguity.
  • The case has prompted renewed calls for clearer rules on how abortion restrictions intersect with medical ethics, patient autonomy and fetal personhood.