Rihanna and Jameela Jamil are among the dozens of celebrities speaking out against Alabama’s controversial bill which effects a near-total ban on abortion in the state.
On Thursday, Rihanna posted a tweet which included the photo of the 25 white male senators who voted for the bill.
“Take a look. These are the idiots making decisions for WOMEN in America. Governor Kay Ivey…SHAME ON YOU!!!” the Bajan singer wrote.
On Wednesday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the controversial abortion bill into law, which could punish doctors who perform abortions with life in prison.
The law has no exceptions for unwanted pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest.
After the decision was announced, women all over social media have been sharing their abortion stories with the hashtag #YouKnowMe.
Chat show host Busy Phillipps used the hashtag the night before the bill was passed.
“1 in 4 women have had an abortion. Many people think they don’t know someone who has, but #youknowme,” the 39-year-old wrote on Twitter.
In a lengthy Instagram post, actress Minka Kelly also revealed she had an abortion when she was younger, calling it “the smartest decision I could’ve made.”
“When I was younger, I had an abortion. It was the smartest decision I could’ve made, not only for myself and my boyfriend at the time, but also for this unborn fetus,” she wrote.
“For a baby to’ve been born to two people – too young and completely ill equipped – with no means or help from family, would have resulted in a child born into an unnecessary world of struggle. Having a baby at that time I would have only perpetuated the cycle of poverty, chaos and dysfunction I was born into,” she added.
Earlier this week, British TV presenter and actress Jameela Jamil said she had an abortion when she was younger, and hit back at critics who attacked her decision on social media.
“A LOT of men calling me a w**** and telling me ‘I shouldn’t have opened my legs’ and that I should have used contraception,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet.
“Not that it justifies my right to choose, but I DID use contraception, and it didn’t work, it doesn’t always work. It could happen to you, you utter clowns.”
There are significant concerns that the ruling could threaten Roe v Wade – a landmark ruling passed in 1973 that protected a woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion.
On Thursday, Missouri became the latest US state to restrict abortion laws, with the state senate passing a controversial bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy.
Actor and politician Cynthia Nixon said it was important that all the progress made towards protecting women’s rights in the US was not reversed after sharing her own abortion story.
“60 years ago, my mother had an illegal abortion. It was too harrowing for her to discuss, but she made sure I knew it happened. In 2010, my wife had a legal abortion after we found out her pregnancy was not viable. We cannot and we will not go back. #YouKnowMe #YouKnowUs,” she posted on Twitter.
Lady Gaga also described Alabama’s law as an “outrage” and “heinous” in a post on Twitter. “So there’s a higher penalty for doctors who perform these operations than for most rapists?”
A total of four states in the US have passed so-called “heartbeat bills” this year, banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which could be as early as six weeks.
Reproductive advocates have warned that this prohibits abortion before many women realise they are pregnant, amounting to a near-total ban on the procedure.
