It’s so easy to switch off from international and even national news, when you’re in a bit of a mummy bubble.

While I can now easily name at least 25 engines from Thomas the Tank Engine (honestly, what kind of name is Whiff for a train) I’m a bit less (okay a lot less) au fait with exactly what is happening with Brexit, with Trump’s state visit, even with Love Island.

Echo:

But sometimes, something cuts right through the play-dates, and the preschool pick ups and drop offs and leaves you questioning what exactly is happening out there in the real world.

The passing of the “heartbeat bill” in Alabama did just that.

I’m no expert on American policies, but I’m genuinely shocked that abortion has been outlawed from the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

That’s when a woman is above five or six weeks pregnant. About a week after you miss a period. A point at which loads of women have absolutely no idea that they are pregnant.

And the procedure is banned in almost all cases – including in cases of rape or incest.

And that state is not alone. Sixteen other states are seeking to impose new restrictions on abortion, including Georgia.

How is it 2019 and we are in a place where hard fought rights – the right to safely terminate an unwanted pregnancy, to have control over your own body – are being stripped away from us?

Stripped away by men (Alabama’s 35-seat Senate is dominated by men, and none of its four female senators backed the ban.)

Let’s be frank, banning abortions does not stop abortions. It drives it underground, forces women to make desperate and dangerous decisions.

I’ve never had an abortion. I hope I’m never in a position to have to consider having one. But I’m 100 per cent pro a woman’s right to choose, to have control over her body, over her life.