Forced Motherhood: The Cost of Abortion Bans

In my opinion, pregnancy and motherhood can be a profound and beautiful experience. The ability to nurture and bring a new life into the world is nothing short of extraordinary, and I’ve always admired mothers as real-life superheroes.

But the true beauty of motherhood lies in choice. It is only empowering when a woman freely and willingly chooses to take on that role. Unfortunately, that freedom is being steadily eroded globally by laws and policies that deny women the right to make decisions about their own bodies.

As a research assistant in perinatal psychiatry, I have seen the emotional and psychological toll that motherhood can take. From the physical changes (and sometimes trauma) of pregnancy and birth, mood shifts and sleep deprivation, to inadequate social support and the overwhelming pressure of building new routines, motherhood is challenging even when chosen. These challenges become far more pronounced when women are forced into motherhood by law, circumstance, or lack of access to medical care. Such coercion strips away autonomy and compound the emotional, physical, and economic burden already faced by many.

In the United States, these issues have intensified since the overturning of Roe. V Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. As of May 2025, nineteen U.S states have implemented harsh laws that either severely restrict or completely ban legal abortion. These bans effectively force women and girls to carry pregnancies to term against their will, regardless of their circumstances or well-being. They remove the freedom to make critical decisions about their own bodies and futures. While protests and debates continue across the world, several cases have sparked discussion on the ethical concerns surrounding the new ‘pro-life’ laws.

Photo by Harrison Mitchell on Unsplash

A recent and heart breaking case highlights the devastating consequences of restrictive abortion laws, and the toll they take on women, families, and medical professionals. Adriana Smith, a woman from Georgia, was declared brain dead in February 2025, after suffering a catastrophic stroke just eight weeks into her pregnancy. Despite being legally deceased, doctors kept her on life-support for four months due to Georgia’s strict anti-abortion law, which bans abortion after six weeks if a foetal heartbeat is detected.

Physicians at Emory University Hospital released a statement explaining their treatment decision was guided by the Georgia Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) act, an anti-abortion law that grants full constitutional rights to any unborn child once a heartbeat is detected. By granting personhood to Adriana’s foetus, the law effectively removed the rights of Adriana and her family, forcing medical staff into an ethically problematic situation. This meant that Adriana’s body was no longer her own, and her and her foetus were treated as two individual patients. Her family were denied the right to weigh up their options on what would be best for both Adriana and the foetus, and whether they would have preferred to take her off life support. The baby was delivered prematurely via Caesarean section in mid-June, weighing 1lb 13oz, and is currently being treated in neonatal intensive care.

Adriana’s case has become a flashpoint in the broader international debate around reproductive rights, medical ethics, and end-of-life care. It raises profound and unsettling questions on how society defines life, whose life is prioritised in a medical crisis, and what happens when laws override consent and human rights. Co-Author of ‘Liberating Abortion’ noted that Adriana’s case highlights that ‘women’s bodies are not valued beyond our capacity to give birth’, and that Adriana was not able to die with dignity due to society perceiving her body as a carrier.

Since Adriana’s death, her loved ones, reproductive rights advocates, and Democratic State Representative Park Cannon have rallied behind a proposed bill called ‘Adriana’s Law’. This legislation aims to ensure women retain agency over their bodies and medical decisions, even in states with restrictive abortion bans. It would provide clear protection for families and medical professionals navigating the painful intersections of pregnancy, medical emergencies, and personal autonomy.  It is profoundly disturbing that even in death, women’s choices and bodily autonomy can be overruled by laws and governments. Once again, women are forced to fight for rights that should be fundamental and unquestionable.

Photo by Harrison Mitchell on Unsplash

Across the United States, the rollback of reproductive rights has inflicted immense psychological, physical, and emotional harm on women. As the ITM writer, Sorcha Alford, explored in a recent article, the fall of Roe v. Wade has given rise to countless stories like Adriana’s, where women endure painful, life-threatening pregnancies and are subjected to unnecessary and forced suffering under restrictive laws.

Maternal mortality rates in the Unites States have risen sharply compared to other high income countries, with 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births. Furthermore, a 2024 study also found a significant increase in mental distress among women with lower levels of education and income, revealing a troubling link between restrictive abortion policies and deteriorating mental health. Far from protecting life, these so called ‘pro-life’ laws are exacerbating healthcare disparities, worsening outcomes for marginalised and low-income women, and deepening the already vast inequalities in access to healthcare and autonomy.  

While the states aim of abortion bans is to reduce abortions, the reality is far more dangerous. They drive women towards unsafe, illegal procedures or force many to endure unwanted or medically risky pregnancies to term. These laws do not stop abortion, but simply eliminate safe access to it. 

As we have seen in the case of Adriana Smith, by granting personhood to a foetus at the expense of the woman, society effectively erases the woman’s own personhood. These laws reduce women to vessels and incubators without agency, stripping away their fundamental right to bodily autonomy. When legislation prioritises ideology over individual choice, we not only risk poor medical outcomes, but also pave the way for a society where women’s bodies are no longer their own, but governed by political agendas.

As I explored in my recent article, today’s reality is beginning to mirror the dystopia imagined in Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s tale’, a world where women’s bodies are controlled, and their reproductive rights systematically stripped away. Governments are no longer just influencing women’s choices, but instead are actively policing them, transforming what should be a private decision into a public battleground.

We must recognise that forced motherhood is not empowerment, but instead oppression. Autonomy, dignity, and choice are not privileges. They are basic human rights that we must defend for women across the world.