SisterSong president speaks about Georgia woman's situation

Adriana Smith is on life support and her family can't make a final decision because of the state's abortion ban.

There has been so much news around the world regarding reproductive rights in the last week that I neglected to write about the situation in Georgia, where a woman is being kept on life support because of the state’s abortion ban.

Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old mother and nurse, was declared brain-dead in February. I’ve contacted her mother and hope to tell her story. Several organizations sent me news releases about the incident. I corresponded with staffers at SisterSong, a national reproductive justice organization.

Later, I spoke with Monica Simpson, its executive director, about that case and the general situation in Georgia. They are involved in a lawsuit over the state’s abortion ban. She said she wanted to make people aware of Smith’s case.

“The first step for us is always to figure out what the family needs and what we can do to support their needs at this time,” Simpson said.

SisterSong has been fighting the state’s abortion ban since the Georgia House Bill 481, formally named the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, was passed in 2019. That law sought to prevent physicians in the U.S. state of Georgia from performing abortions beyond six weeks, except in special situations. It came into effect after the Dobbs decision.

“So the sentiment across the state has just been disappointment,” Simpson said. “It's been fear. It's also been a lot of anger and rage.”

As is evidenced by so many of these stories we’re hearing from the South, women of color have been the hardest hit when it comes to abortion bans. Women like Amber Thurman and Candi Miller died because of them. Adriana Smith is also black.

“Historically black women have not been given the best support in the healthcare system,” Simpson said. “We know that racism is real in the healthcare system. So, because that is a layer of discrimination that black women are up against when going into access care, it is unfortunately going to make the outcomes worse for black women.”