United States: Hundreds of Celebrities Against Anti-Abortion Law in Texas

Published on : 09/03/2021 – 09:18

“Solidarity”, “No prohibitions for our bodies”: many music and Hollywood stars have made their voices heard on social networks to denounce a law that has come into force in the State of Texas in the United States, which prohibits the majority of abortions, even in cases of incest or rape.

“We should all be able to make our own decisions about our health and our future,” singer Cindy Lauper says on her Instagram account.

“With the extreme abortion ban in Texas and the record number of states adopting abortion restrictions this year, we must fight for the reproductive freedom of all,” the interpreter continued. Girls Just Want to Have Fun “, taking over, just like her comrade P! Nk or the actresses Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria, a message from Family Planning declaring:” I am in solidarity with Texans and people of the world whole who seek the freedom to procreate. “

New Texas law prohibits termination of pregnancy once the embryo’s heartbeat is detected – around six weeks old, when most women don’t know they’re pregnant. There is only one exemption: in the event of a medical emergency, but not in the event of incest or rape.

>> To read on France24.com: In Texas, it is now almost impossible to have an abortion

The actress and producer Reese Witherspoon also reacted to express her solidarity with the women of Texas, such as the comedian Amy Schumer, the singer Dua Lipa or the top model Bella Hadid.

As actress Alyssa Milano points out on her Instagram account, more than a hundred stars have taken a stand against Texas law.

“White men’s sharia”

The singer Lizzo made a short video where she castigates an intrusion of religion into the law, calling for respect for “the separation of Church and State”. “People who make the laws should not screw their noses in what concerns the bodies of others”, the artist loses his temper, visibly in the grip of great emotion, believing that the leaders had better focus on the answers to bring to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tennis champion Martina Navratilova (18 grand slam victories) sharply criticized the Texas law, pinning those who voted for it on Twitter, photo in support: “All old white men. Who tell young women of all the colors what they can do or not with their body. The sharia of the white men is there “.

“An attack on the constitutional rights of women”

Before Texas, twelve states passed so-called “heartbeat” laws, but all of them were struck down in court because they violate the basic jurisprudence of abortion rights in the United States that guaranteed the right to abortion. abort, as long as the fetus is not viable, i.e. around 22 weeks of pregnancy.

The Southern State has formulated its law differently: it is not up to the authorities to enforce the measure but “exclusively” to citizens, encouraged to file complaints against organizations or people who help women to have abortions. The state of Texas is thus shirking its constitutional responsibility and making it more difficult for proceedings to block the law in federal courts or the United States Supreme Court.

The country’s highest court, profoundly overhauled by Donald Trump, on Thursday dealt the most severe blow to abortion rights in nearly half a century, by refusing to block Texas’ anti-abortion law.

President Joe Biden on Thursday blasted the US Supreme Court’s refusal to block the law, “an unprecedented attack on women’s constitutional rights” and pledged a government response “to ensure Texans have access to safe and legal abortions “.

The Democratic-majority House of Representatives intends to debate and vote on a federal bill aimed at preventing U.S. states from passing drastic provisions restricting women’s right to abortion, like the one in Texas, said Thursday its president Nancy Pelosi.

With AFP and Reuters