Olivia Rodrigo on the Other Stage during day four of Glastonbury Festival (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images)
(Picture: Getty Images)Last Friday the Republican-held US Supreme Court made the shocking decison to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling which granted a constitutional right to abortion to women in the US. By reversing it, the lives of tens of millions of women will be affected as individual states can now determine whether they allow their citizens to access an abortion.
Currently, 13 states have trigger laws in place which means abortion will become illegal in these states the moment Roe is overturned — 26 states have laws which indicate they will also criminalise abortion. This means that over half the US states will soon ban abortion.
The decision comes even though about 85 per cent of Americans favour legal abortion in at least some circumstances, with many across the globe collectively mourning and revolting against the decision.
At Glastonbury, Worthy Farm became part of the global outcry after a multidude of pop stars spoke against the ruling. Gen Z pin-up Olivia Rodrigo invited Lily Allen onto the stage during her Saturday set where the two performed the the British singer’s song F**k You. “I’m devastated and terrified,” Rodrigo said. “I wanted to dedicate this next song to the five members of the Supreme Court who have showed us that at the end of the day, they truly don’t give a s**t about freedom.”
Megan Thee Stallion was also performing at Glastonbury Festival when she shared her thoughts about the ruling. Mid-performance, the Hot Girl Summer singer said: “You know it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say something about these stupid-a** men. I mean, goddamn. What else you want? Texas really embarrassing me right now; ya’ll know that’s my home state. And I want to have it on the mother***ing record that the hot boys and the hot girls do not support this bulls*** that ya’ll campaign for. My body is my mother***ing choice.” The American rapper later took to Instagram to post an infographic about the ruling and urged her 29.1 million followers not to “back down”.
Moreover, two of the Pyramid Stage headliners used their primetime slot to make a powerful call for women’s rights. At the end of Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar’s 90-minute set, the rapper said repeatedly: “They judge me; they judge Christ. Godspeed for women’s rights.” While Billie Eilish lamented that, “Today is a really, really dark day for women in the US.”
In America, the BET Awards 2022 took place on Sunday evening and welcomed some of the biggest names in popular culture to Microsoft Theare in LA. Here many of the winners used their acceptance speeches to talk about the ruling, including singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan who accepted the award for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. She said: “To the men, if you’ve ever benefited from a woman making one of the toughest decisions of her life, which is to terminate a pregnancy, you need to be standing with us. This is not just a woman’s issue. This is everybody’s issue, and we need your support more than ever. You all got us? ‘Cause we got you.”
Taraji P. Henson also took the stage after Lizzo opened the show with a flute solo in a glittery-gold outfit performing her single About Damn Time. “It’s about damn time we talk about the fact that guns have more rights than a woman. It’s a sad day in America,” said Henson, thanking Lizzo who along with Live Nation recently donated $1 million in tour proceeds to Planned Parenthood. “A weapon that can take lives has more power than a woman that can give life – if she chooses to.”
I’m pledging $500k from my upcoming tour to Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights. Live Nation agreed to match— to make it 1 MILLION dollars
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) June 24, 2022
Many celebrities have also been taking their anger and sorrow to social media, with a few notably sharing their abortion stories to destigmatise the practice while simultaneously arguing the importance of protecting access for others. For example, following news of the leaked opinion that, if finalised, would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade court decision, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers shared via her Twitter that while on tour in 2021, she had a safe, effective medication abortion thanks to Planned Parenthood.
“I had an abortion in October of last year while I was on tour. I went to Planned Parenthood where they gave me the abortion pill,” Bridgers shared. “It was easy. Everyone deserves that kind of access.”
After Friday’s heartbreaking news, Bridgers tweeted a slew of tweets that showed her anger towards it. But she also linked her followers to the Mariposa Fund, which works to provide reproductive health services to undocumented people.
Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow Walker also opened up to her followers hours after the heartbreaking news. She shared a post on Instagram talking about when she had an abortion in 2020. “Today marks a huge setback in history- a profound injustice to women across the United States. There are countless women who have struggled with making the decision to have an abortion. I too have battled with the choice but in 2020, when the world was collapsing during the pandemic, I sought an abortion,” she told her 3.7 million followers.
“I was lucky enough to have a great doctor who supported me through the debilitating process- with their help, I am able to be the happy and healthy person I am today,” she added.
Reminding the men of the world that they ought to be fighting for abortion rights too, Captain America star Chris Evans tweeted: "This is absolutely unbelievable. If you’re not worried about Roe v Wade, you’re not paying attention. This is why voting matters!!"
This is absolutely unbelievable. If you’re not worried about roe v wade, you’re not paying attention. This is why voting matters!! https://t.co/gZ5lrj7tQ1
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 15, 2019
Similarly, John Legend posted a video of Capitol police arriving at the Supreme Court amid protests against the decision, writing, “Storm troopers on their way to tell women to shut up and accept government mandated childbirth. Sickening.”
As the Supreme Court strips women of a 50-year-old right to safe abortion and autonomy over her body, understandably the world is reeling trying to process the blow. Let’s hope this energy translates to offline activism, too.
