Last week, Alabama’s Republican governor Kay Ivey signed a bill that prohibits abortion for virtually all women in the state – even those who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. The draconian and potentially incredibly damaging bill has been widely criticised by pro-choice campaigners including Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, who said: “This ban is dangerous and exceptionally cruel – and the bill’s authors want to use it to overturn Roe v. Wade,” the landmark ruling that made abortion a right in the US.
Many musicians have also condemned the bill in no uncertain terms, with some comparing it to The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Attwood’s nightmarish vision of the future where women are treated as legal property. Find out below what artists including Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Lady Gaga are saying about the highly controversial legislation.
Lizzo
“This is how The Handmaid’s Tale started. It’s shit like this and we gon look up and be enslaved again y’all — stay vigilant because this is terrifying,” the ‘Juice’ singer wrote on Twitter.
Billie Eilish
“Women should say, should do and feel and be exactly what they want,” the pop prodigy told Variety. “There should be nobody else telling them how to live their life, how to do shit.… It just makes me so mad that if I start talking about it, I won’t stop. Men should not make women’s choices – that’s all I have to say.”
Rihanna
On Instagram, Rihanna shared an image of the 25 male Republicans behind the bill, writing: “Take a look. These are the idiots making decisions for WOMEN in America. Governor Kay Ivey … SHAME ON YOU!”
Hayley Williams
The Paramore singer tweeted: “If you’re a man and you think that The Handmaid’s Tale is a well-crafted show but maybe not the best way for a modern society to operate then it’s a really good time to start speaking out against the current war on women’s bodies/minds. We need your allyship.”
Tegan and Sara
The Canadian pop sisters tweeted: “Women should unequivocally have the right to choose what happens to their bodies. MY BODY. MY CHOICE. FUCK THE PATRIARCHY!!!”
Matty Healy
Debbie Harry
“I think it’s criminal. Individual rights should be respected in every way. Religion was never supposed to be a part of our government,” the Blondie icon told Variety.
Lady Gaga
“It is an outrage to ban abortion in Alabama period, and all the more heinous that it excludes those have been raped or are experiencing incest non-consensual or not,” Gaga, herself a rape survivor, tweeted. “So there’s a higher penalty for doctors who perform these operations than for most rapists? This is a travesty and I pray for all these women and young girls who will suffer at the hands of this system.”
Mark Hoppus
The Blink-182 musician tweeted: ” “Abortion should be legal, safe and easy to access. End of. Stop trying to tell women what to do with their bodies. Namaste.”
Yungblud
The British rocker sent out a rallying cry on Twitter, writing: “the right to ur body and a decision u choose make on your body is urs and urs alone. to b striped [sic] of that power is a knife to the heart of human rights. we cant our future let be [sic] dictated by outdated mentalities. speak up, say what u think is right. lives literally depend on it.”
Halsey
“I’ve always been open about my struggle with reproductive health and pregnancy. What happens to the body that I live in, that you live, is nobody else’s choice,” she wrote on Twitter. “Watching our own government be immune to our experience, and the social temperature regarding abortion is another fatal failure for humanity. This is deadly.”
Travis Scott
Pointedly, the rapper pledged to donate all proceeds from his merch table at Alabama’s Hangout Festival last weekend to Planned Parenthood.
Justin Vernon
The Bon Iver frontman urged his Twitter followers to donate to The Yellowhammer Fund, which offers financial support to anyone seeking care at one of Alabama’s three abortion clinics.
