Dead But Not Done: Adriana Smith, Georgia’s Abortion Law, and the Fight for Human Dignity

When does life end—and who gets to decide what happens next? In this powerful episode of Pulse and Politics, host Alana Sanders confronts the heartbreaking and controversial case of Adriana Smith—a 30-year-old Black woman from Georgia, declared brain dead while nine weeks pregnant, yet kept on life support due to the state’s abortion laws.

Alana breaks down the legal loopholes, the moral outrage, and the inhumane treatment Adriana’s family is enduring under Georgia’s “heartbeat law.” This episode challenges what it means to protect life—and who’s really being protected.

If you care about bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, or simply believe that death should come with dignity, this is a must-listen.

Follow, rate, and share to keep the conversation going. #PulseAndPolitics #AdrianaSmith #AbortionRights #GeorgiaLaw #HumanDignity

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stay locked in way news meets the heartbeat of the streets.
It's pulsing Politics with Alina Sander posting politics.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Turn it up.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Loud voices that matter, speaking truth right now, from the
city to the world. Got the facts so clear. Elina
Sanders keeps it real in here. Breaking news, get the scoop,
State Wolke, stay tuned politics saying coach every side, review,
no spin, just facts in the booth so sharp. Alina
Sanda is bringing knowledge where the mic and a spark

(00:35):
polsting politics turn it up. Loud voices that matter, speaking
truth right now, from the city to the world. Got
the fact so clear. Elina Sanders keeps it real in here.
That's the post, That's the truth only on Pulsing Politics.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Welcome back to Posts and Politics, the show where policy
needs people and politics get personal. I'm your host, Elena
Sanders and today's episode who It's heavy, y'all, but it's
one we need to talk about. Go ahead and ring

(01:15):
the bell. Class is now in session. Imagine this. You're
a mother, your daughter, your daughter thirty years old, a nurse,
a mother herself suddenly suffers from severe blood clots in

(01:38):
her brain. She's declared brain dead, and while your world
is falling apart, instead of being able to grieve, you're
forced to watch her body be kept artificially alive for months,
not because there's hope for recovery, but because she was

(01:59):
nine weeks pregnant. This is not fiction. This is Georgia.
This is twenty twenty five, and this is Adriana Smith. Now.
Adrianna Smith is a black woman from Atlanta. She is
being kept on life support against her family's wishes, because

(02:19):
of Georgia's heart beat law, a law that bans most
abortions after about six weeks, A law that now says
her fetus has more rights than her, A law that's
been interpreted by hospitals to me, if there's a fetal heartbeat,
you must continue with the pregnancy, even if the mother

(02:44):
is legally dead. Now, let's be real. This isn't about
preserving life. It's about political control over our bodies. This
is what happens when policy ignores nuance, humanity, and science.

(03:05):
Now let's break this down. We're gonna break this down
deep so you guys can clearly understand what's going on.
Number One, Adriana is in fact brain dead. That means
under medical definition and all those definitions that are out there,
all the research. She has died. Number two, she cannot consent,

(03:30):
she cannot speak, she cannot choose. Number three, her family
is definitely suffering, emotionally, financially, spiritually, with no say now
Georgia Law. Georgie's Law doesn't explicitly say keep brain dead

(03:54):
women alive, but because it's vague and extreme interpretation of
fetal personhood, hospitals are playing it safe at the expense
of a family's peace and Adrianna's dignity. What kind of
country forces a grieving family to watch a loved one's

(04:19):
lifeless body to be used like an incubator. What kind
of state law allows a woman to become a host
even in death. This isn't just a women's rights issue
women's rights issue, this is a human rights crisis. Let

(04:41):
me repeat that louder for the folks in the back.
Adriana Smith was a daughter, a mother, a nurse, and
now she's being treated like a vessel, not a person.
You know what's worse. The same people claiming to defend
life are solid when it comes to funding health care

(05:03):
for mothers, expanding Medicaid, are supporting that baby after it
is born. Isn't that funny y'all can't keep a woman's
corpse alive but won't even pass maternal leave laws. I

(05:25):
want you to sit back with this. Think of Audriana's mother, Aprilark,
April Newark. Get that in your head. She called this
entire situation torture. And she's right. This is a state
mandated trauma. It's not pro life, it's not compassion, it's cruelty.

(05:45):
Now you all already know how this ties into the bigger,
the bigger picture. These abortion bands don't just punish women.
They punish Black women, poor women, marginalize women, families already
struggling to survive. It's not a coincidence that in the

(06:11):
Deep South, where these laws are the harshest, we also
see the highest rates of maternal mortality, especially for black women.
So ask yourself these Ask yourself this. I can't even

(06:33):
hardly get it out. Are we protecting life or controlling it?
Are we protecting life or controlling it? Now? Before I close,
let me leave you with this. Adrianna Smith deserves dignity,
her family deserves justice, and Georgia needs to stop playing

(06:56):
politics with people's lives. If this story moved. You don't
stay silent. Share her name, Call your legislators, Call your
state Georgia state legislators. Demand clarity in our laws and

(07:18):
compassion in our politics. Because if we don't speak up now,
who will. If we don't speak up now, who will?
I'm Alina Sanders. This has been Pulse and Politics, where
we hold power accountable, one truth at a time until

(07:42):
next time. Stay informed, stay bold, and stay loud. That's
the pose.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
That's the truth only on Pulse and politics, only on

(08:23):
poles and polities,