Adriana Smith’s Family Was Denied the Right to Make Medical Decisions for Months, After She Was Declared Brain Dead, Due to Georgia Abortion Ban

Pressley Joins Williams, Jacobs in Introducing Resolution Condemning Anti-Abortion Laws that Denied Smith’s Dignity and Human Rights

Adriana’s Son Chance was Delivered via Postmortem Emergency C-Section and Adriana Will be Taken Off Life Support

Resolution Text (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) released the following statement on the tragic case of Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old Georgia mother who was declared brain dead in February and had been kept on artificial life support without her family’s consent. The Georgia hospital where Adriana died indicated that the state’s extreme abortion ban mandated Adriana remain on life support because she was 9 weeks pregnant at the time of her death. On Friday, June 13, 2025, her infant son, named Chance, was born prematurely at approximately 4:41 a.m. via a postmortem emergency Cesarean section. Chance weighs about 1 pound, 13 ounces and is currently in the NICU. Adriana is being taken off life support today.

“Adriana Smith was a beloved daughter, a devoted mother, and a compassionate nurse denied dignity and basic human rights,” said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus. “She and her family were failed by a broken system that ignored her pain and then forced them to endure months of trauma under cruel, dehumanizing laws. These laws stripped Adriana of her dignity and denied her family the right to make deeply personal medical decisions. I hope their experiences compel Congress and the states to finally end cruel abortion bans, end fetal personhood laws, and confront the Black maternal morbidity crisis once and for all. I am proud to join Congresswoman Williams and our colleagues on this resolution to honor Adriana’s life, uplift her family, and recommit ourselves to fighting for reproductive freedom, Black maternal health, the right to abortion care and the bodily autonomy of every person who calls this country home. We join Adriana’s family members in praying for strength for baby Chance and mourning the loss of Adriana.”

In light of this solemn update, Congresswoman Pressley joined Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) and Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51) in introducing a resolution recognizing the deeply disturbing case of Adriana Smith.

The resolution calls for urgent legislative and policy changes to protect the rights, autonomy, and dignity of pregnant people — particularly Black women, who are disproportionately impacted by systemic medical neglect and restrictive anti-abortion laws.

“I extend my sympathies to Adriana Smith’s family as they spend their final moments with Adriana on their terms. Adriana Smith deserved better at every point of this tragedy. Her family, along with baby Chance, remain in my family’s prayers as they navigate life after this unimaginably devastating situation that Georgia’s laws imposed on them. From my service in the State Senate when the LIFE Act was passed in 2019, I know that the bill was drafted in a way that created uncertainty among medical providers and my constituents in Georgia’s 5th District about what is permitted under the law and how the law would be enforced. The clear intention of this was to create a chilling effect on doctors providing essential maternal healthcare services and on patients seeking lifesaving medical treatment. We are now seeing this lack of clarity result in unimaginable cruelty to Adriana Smith and her family,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams.

“My heart breaks for Adriana Smith, her family, and new baby Chance, who had to enter the world this way. Georgia’s fetal personhood law denied Adriana Smith’s family the ability to say goodbye to her on their own terms,” said Congresswoman Sara Jacobs. “Instead, she was kept on life support, breathing through machines for nearly four months to serve as an incubator. Women are worth more than their ability to get pregnant and give birth – we are human beings who should be trusted to make our own health care decisions. It’s devastating that Adriana is the latest casualty of our nation’s Black maternal health crisis and anti-abortion laws – but let’s ensure she’s the last. This needs to be the watershed moment to end anti-abortion and fetal personhood laws and guarantee the rights and dignity of everyone to make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families.”

Adriana Smith, a nurse and mother, sought medical care for symptoms, including an extreme headache, in early February but was not given adequate treatment. She returned the next day as her condition worsened and was declared brain dead while nine weeks pregnant on February 19. She has been kept on artificial support until her pregnancy reaches 32 weeks and the fetus can be delivered, meaning her bodily functions will have been supported for more than 5 months. Due to Georgia’s LIFE Act and uncertainty surrounding fetal personhood laws, Emory University Midtown Hospital began maintaining Adriana’s bodily functions without consent from her family.

The resolution urges the government to:

• Repeal state laws that ban or criminalize abortion and abortion-related services;
• Repeal laws that exclude pregnant people from having their advance directives come into effect;
• Clarify how anti-abortion and fetal personhood laws should be interpreted in medical settings;
• Reaffirm and guarantee autonomy and dignity to pregnant people over their lives, well-being, and medical needs.

While Georgia’s Attorney General has stated that nothing in the LIFE Act explicitly mandates keeping a brain-dead patient on life support, the lack of a formal legal opinion or prosecutorial guidance leaves families and doctors in limbo.

Anti-abortion laws deprive people who can become pregnant of their autonomy by prioritizing the life of the fetus over the health, medical decisions, and rights of the pregnant person — a dehumanizing practice that violates their civil rights and reinforces systemic control over their bodies.

Out of fear of criminalization, family separation, or mistreatment like what Adriana Smith is experiencing, many pregnant people avoid healthcare settings even when they desire care, putting their health and the health of their fetus at risk.

The resolution declares that the House of Representatives stands with Adriana Smith’s family in their efforts to return dignity and justice to their family, condemns giving fetuses rights and taking them away from pregnant people in our laws, and condemns the troublingly common experience that Black women face in medical settings of having their pain not given full credence or treatment.

A copy of the resolution text can be found here.

On June 5, Rep. Pressley delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor demanding justice for Adriana Smith and sharing her family’s story. Pressley connected the horrific mistreatment of Adriana Smith to the brutal history of medical violence Black women have faced in America for centuries.

Last month, as Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, Rep. Pressley and Co-Chair Diana DeGette (CO-01) released a statement calling for the state of Georgia and the hospital in question to respect the fundamental rights of Adriana Smith and her family and condemned GOP abortion bans.

###