Following four months on life support, Adriana Smith has been interred.
In February, a registered nurse from Atlanta was ruled brain dead while pregnant and was maintained on life support owing to Georgia’s abortion prohibition. On June 13, she delivered a son via an emergency Caesarean section. On June 17, she was removed off life support at the age of 31.
Smith’s loved ones commemorated her with a celebration of life ceremony on Saturday, June 28, at Fairfield Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia.
Numerous relatives spoke tributes to Smith at the event, which was live-streamed on Facebook, including a message from her younger sister.
I like to express my gratitude for the time I had with her and for the lessons she imparted to me. Smith’s sister said, “Her love, kindness, and wisdom,” and conveyed her hope that the deceased nurse would assist her in making optimal choices.
The sister continued, “Family was of utmost importance to her.” I want to emulate her path. In addition, I express my gratitude for her.
While Smith’s family commemorated her in the Georgia church, her baby, Chance, remained in the NICU, as reported by Atlanta source 11Alive.
Smith was pronounced brain dead on February 19 at around nine weeks of gestation after several cerebral blood clots; nonetheless, she was maintained on life support due to Georgia’s prohibition on abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy. It was adopted after to the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Legally, “no abortion shall be conducted if the fetus exhibits a detectable human heartbeat, except in cases of medical emergencies or medically futile pregnancies.” In Georgia, a “medical emergency” is characterized as a situation when an abortion is essential to avert the death of the pregnant woman or to avoid significant and permanent physical impairment of a key physiological function of the pregnant woman.
Smith’s situation was deemed a legal gray area, and physicians allegedly informed her family that due to her brain death and the absence of danger, they were legally obligated to provide life support until the baby attained viability. Following almost four months on life support, she delivered Chance at 4:41 a.m. local time on June 13 by an emergency Caesarean delivery, as reported by her mother, April Newkirk, to 11Alive. The neonate, weighing around 1 pound and 13 ounces, was sent to the NICU.
The baby is “anticipated to be fine,” Newkirk said the Atlanta publication at the time. He is only engaged in combat. We just want prayers for him. Continue to pray for him. He has arrived now.
The mother said that she “should not be interring my daughter.”
“My daughter ought to be interring me,” Newkirk said to 11Alive. “If I had the opportunity to convey one final message to her, I would express my love and acknowledge her as an exceptional daughter.”
A GoFundMe campaign established to assist Smith’s family has accumulated over $460,000 of its $490,000 target as of Sunday, June 29.