When Pregnancy Law Overrides Brain Death: The Ethical Collapse of Adriana Smith's Case
Brain Dead but Still Pregnant: The Ethical Crisis Behind Georgia’s Heartbeat Law
Adriana Smith is dead. Brain dead. Legally and clinically deceased.
Yet, her body remains on life support in Georgia, not because of medical necessity, but due to the chilling uncertainty bred by the state's "heartbeat law."
Here’s the crux: Georgia's LIFE Act doesn’t explicitly mandate that a brain-dead pregnant woman be kept on life support. In fact, the Attorney General’s office has clarified that removing life support in such cases doesn't qualify as an abortion under the law.
So why is Adriana’s body still being kept alive by machines?
Because the law is vague as hell and hospitals are terrified. Terrified of lawsuits. Terrified of criminal charges. Terrified of misinterpretation in a climate where politics are dictating medicine.
And the fallout? A grieving family can’t lay their daughter to rest. Providers are trapped in a lose-lose ethical nightmare. And a fetus is being carried in a body that can no longer support life on its own.
In Florida, where I practice, brain death is recognized as death. Period. No permission needed. No extended ethics committee circus. If the tests are done and criteria are met, the care ends—because the person is no longer alive. Georgia recognizes brain death too, but when the LIFE Act and fetal personhood laws are layered in, clarity disappears.
And here’s the part no one wants to talk about:
She was nine weeks pregnant.
Nine.
Not twenty. Not on the cusp of viability.
Nine.
That’s barely a missed period. Plenty of women don’t even know they’re pregnant at that stage. Hell, some are still waiting to see an OB for the first time. And yet Adriana’s body has been forced into this grotesque holding pattern, ventilated and monitored—not for her benefit, not for her family’s wishes, but because somewhere along the line, a heartbeat took precedence over humanity.
If she had been twenty weeks pregnant, this conversation would look different. But she wasn’t. And no one, not her family, not the baby’s father—wanted this.
And what we’re risking?
Infections. Sepsis. Organ failure. Hemorrhage. Fetal abnormalities. Prolonged ventilator dependence in a body with no neurological function.
This isn’t care.
This is state-sanctioned suffering.
This isn’t about being pro-life or pro-choice. This is about respecting death. It’s about honoring the people left behind. It’s about stopping legislation from bullying itself into our ICUs and operating rooms with no regard for ethical nuance.
If you’re pro-life, I’m asking you to sit with this:
If this was your daughter, your partner, your sister…what would you want?
Because if your answer is “I’d want to keep the baby,” fine.
But you should be able to make that call. Not the state. Not the hospital’s legal department. You.
If this shook you, share it.
Forward this post.
Comment with your thoughts.
Let’s bring some damn humanity back into this system.
And if you’re a provider with a story like this—submit it. I’ll publish it anonymously.
Washington Post Article on Adriana Smith Here