In The Handmaid's Tale, one episode titled "Heroic" features one of the handmaids, Ofmatthew left brain dead after suffering a mental breakdown and being shot in the head as a result. But Gilead, the authoritarian state, hooked her up to life support because she was pregnant, refusing to let her die until she'd carried the baby to term. Viewers were repulsed. After all, they'd reduced this poor woman to nothing but a human incubator, using her purely for her womb. For those unaware of the show (and book's) premise, it is set in a dystopian US, where fertility is on the decline, and those able to bear children are given as slaves (handmaids) to powerful couples. Have you watched this show, and do you remember this scene in the show?

In Georgia, Adriana Smith, 30-year-old mother and nurse was declared brain dead (meaning she is legally recognized as dead) after experiencing intense headaches in February, but has been kept on life support for three months because she's pregnant. Like Ofmatthew, she's being kept alive just so she can birth a child. The Handmaid's Tale continues to become a reality. has been in a vegetative state since February. However, doctors are unable to humanely end her life due to Georgia's strict anti-abortion legislation, which came into effect after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. Have you heard about this horrible story?

This isn't what her family wants, but Georgia's strict anti-abortion law, which prevents you from terminating a pregnancy after just six weeks, means she will remain on a ventilator until the baby is able to be born. And this won't be any time soon. She's only 19 weeks along at this point. It's been reported that her medical team will wait until she's at least 32 weeks pregnant, even though babies have a 'viable' chance of survival outside the womb at 24 weeks. Cruel, and controlling behavior for a family who just want her to pass away peacefully. Because she is pregnant, taking her off life support is not an option. The baby has several serious health conditions, including fluid around the brain, and a very good chance he will never walk, be born blind or even die after birth. A spokesperson for the family says, "Her family deserved the right to have decision-making power about her medical decisions. Instead, they have endured over 90 days of retraumatization, expensive medical costs, and the cruelty of being unable to resolve and move toward healing." Can you see how this is cruel and controlling to not allow this family to disconnect her life support?

This is just one more disturbing reminder how the U.S. -- and other first world countries -- are setting the clocks back on women's reproductive rights. We should all care about the deplorable treatment of Adriana, firstly because she's a woman who is being treated like a human incubator; secondly, if it's happened to one woman, it could happen to any of us; and thirdly, her story signals what feels like the point of no return for women's rights. It cannot get to the point where we're forced to wear red dresses and white bonnets, told not to speak, and have no say over what happens to our bodies. Do you agree that this case shows how dangerous these so called "pro-life" laws (and let's call them what they really are, "pro-birth")are?