I saw something on my TikTok FYP today that stopped me in my tracks.
A young woman in Georgia, USA, declared brain-dead at 9 weeks and is currently at at just 21 weeks pregnant. Her family, deep in grief, now forced to keep her body functioning artificially—not for her, but to act as an incubator for the baby growing inside her. She is gone. Her body is being used. The law—the so-called “heartbeat bill”—says she must be kept alive.
This is not a dystopian drama. This is not The Handmaid’s Tale. This is real life. This is happening now.
And it’s nothing short of heartbreaking.
As someone who has walked the path of high-risk pregnancy and who has held space for trauma and grief through the lens of parenthood and loss, I can’t help but feel my stomach turn. This isn’t about the rights of a baby or the value of life—this is about control. About power. About the systemic erasure of the voices and autonomy of women, particularly when those voices fall silent due to tragedy.
I was offered a medical termination in my own pregnancy. We chose not to take it—but that choice was ours. And that’s the point. Choice is everything.
When choice is taken away, human rights are taken away.
Let’s talk about something else. When someone dies—even if they’re a registered organ donor—their organs cannot be harvested without the permission of their family. Consent is still key. So how is it that a woman who is brain-dead—legally deceased—is denied dignity and bodily autonomy if she is pregnant?
Why is a grieving family not allowed to say goodbye in peace?
Why are we treating a woman’s body like public property?
The heartbeat bills passed in various states across the US—including Texas, Georgia, and Ohio—are not protecting life. They are prioritising ideology over individual rights. They are dehumanising women, turning our bodies into battlegrounds, and removing our autonomy, especially in the most traumatic, nuanced and devastating situations.
I may live in the UK, but I used to work on cruise ships. I have many dear friends in the US. I’m a mum. I’m a daughter. I’m someone who believes fiercely in compassion, in consent, and in the fundamental right to decide what happens to our own bodies.
And my heart is breaking for the families impacted by these laws.
Imagine grieving your daughter while being told you have no right to bury her yet. Imagine being the child who grows up knowing their mum died and their body was used, legally, to bring you into the world. What does that do to a child’s mental health? How will they process that trauma?
These laws are not written by women. They’re not shaped by lived experience. They are driven by power structures that increasingly want to strip away women’s rights—not just around reproductive health, but around voting, marriage, and autonomy. Proposals like repealing no-fault divorce and weakening voting rights (as we’ve seen with the SAVE Act) are part of the same pattern: silencing voices that need to be heard.
Let’s be clear—this is not about protecting life. This is about control.
We should all be concerned. Because when one group’s human rights are threatened, everyone’s are. No one should be forced to carry a pregnancy they do not want, or to keep a loved one’s body artificially alive when they are already gone.
This is a plea. A cry. A moment to speak up.
Because if we stay silent, we become part of the problem. And I, for one, will not be quiet.
If this moved you, please like, comment, and subscribe to the blog. Share it with someone who needs to read it. We need to keep talking, keep fighting, and keep holding space for every single voice that these laws try to silence.
References:
American Civil Liberties Union. (2024). Heartbeat Bills and Reproductive Rights BBC News. (2023). US Abortion Laws: What’s Happening and Why It Matters The Guardian. (2024). Family of Brain-Dead Pregnant Woman in Georgia Speaks Out Planned Parenthood. (2024). The Fight for Reproductive Rights NHS Organ Donation. (2024). Consent and Family Override: Understanding the Law in the UK and US Contexts
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