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Brain-dead Georgia woman kept alive due to abortion laws finally given funeral
Adriana Smith was kept alive medically despite being brain-dead as she was pregnant. Image courtesy: Facebook.
Hundreds gathered at Fairfield Baptist Church in Lithonia on Saturday to mourn Adriana Smith, the 31-year-old Georgia nurse who was declared brain-dead in February but remained on life support so her pregnancy could continue under the state's restrictive abortion law.
Smith's funeral drew nurses, relatives, friends and members of the public, many carrying white roses. The Atlanta Metropolitan Nursing Honor Guard performed a ceremony to formally relieve Smith of her nursing duties.
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Her mother, April Newkirk, told NBC affiliate WXIA that Smith was nine weeks pregnant when she collapsed at home. Her boyfriend had found her gasping for air and making gargling noises. She was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered multiple blood clots in her brain. Smith never regained consciousness.
Georgia's abortion legislation, known as the LIFE Act, bans the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy and was a decisive factor in keeping Smith on a ventilator. The law allows few exceptions and does not account for the mother's mental state if she is brain-dead.
Her baby boy, Chance, was born prematurely on 13 June, weighing just 1 pound, 13 ounces. Smith was removed from life support a few days after his birth. The newborn remains in a neonatal intensive care unit.
'He's expected to be OK,' Newkirk said earlier this month. 'He's just fighting.'
Smith is survived by her infant son and an older child, Chase.
Her younger sister, Naya, said she hopes to carry forward Adriana's legacy. 'I'm thankful for everything that she's taught me— her love, her kindness, her wisdom,' she said during the funeral. 'Family meant everything to her. So I hope that I can follow in her footsteps.'
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