On Monday, Politico published a leaked majority draft opinion from the Supreme Court that revealed the justices have privately voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has kept basic abortion rights legal since its 1973 ruling. Should the Court go through with electing to overturn the landmark court case, the ruling’s protection of the federal right to an abortion would be destroyed, leaving abortion rights an issue subject to state governments.
The news has caused a wave of condemnations from celebrities across the entertainment industry.
On Instagram, Amy Schumer posted an announcement that she would be attending a Planned Parenthood protest in New York City on Tuesday at Foley Square. In the caption of a post saying “To the streets,” Schumer tagged Maine senator Susan Collins, who attracted a wave of criticism in 2018 when she cast the deciding vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. “Hope you have a great day @susancollinsforsenate remember when you chose your career over womens being tested as humans and all the other assholes who caused this,” Schumer wrote.
Also on Instagram, Busy Phillipps drew attention to the contrast between the Met Gala and the news occurring at the same time by captioning her post “the Gilded Age,” referencing the Met Gala theme of “Gilded Glamour.”
On the episode of “The View” that aired on Tuesday, host Whoopi Goldberg gave a fiery speech about the decision. Goldberg has previously publicly discussed having an abortion when she was a teenager.
“This is my body and nobody… you won’t let me make my decisions about my body?,” Goldberg said on “The View.” “You are not the person to make that decision” she began. “The reason abortion came about — women in this country lived forever with it being illegal. Okay? Women, when they decide something is not right for them, they’re going to take it into their own hands. Well, we got tired of tripping over women in bathrooms, public bathrooms, who were giving themselves abortions because there was nowhere safe, nowhere clean, nowhere to go. This law came about because people wanted people to have somewhere safe and somewhere clean. It has nothing to do about your religion.”
“This is not a religious issue, this is a human issue. If you care about me as a human being, you should know three things. Getting an abortion is not easy. Making that decision is not easy. It’s not something people do lightly, it’s not something you can just do,” Goldberg passionately stated. “It is a hard, awful decision that people make. If you don’t have the wherewithal to understand that, to start the conversation with, ‘I know how hard this must be for you.’ If you’re starting it by telling me I’m going to burn in hell, then you’re not looking out for me as a human being, whether I subscribe to your religion or not, and that is not OK.”
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter that “70% of people want Roe upheld,” and urged her followers to take action against the ruling.
Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.
An extreme wing of the Supreme Court may seek to deny that fundamental truth.
They may try to force their views on a country where 70% of people want Roe upheld.
We will not be quiet and we will not go back.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 3, 2022
Amber Tamblyn called the decision “A political act of violence against us.”
Tonight our highest court declared war on more than half of its citizens— women and birthing people everywhere. The overturning of Roe V Wade is a political act of violence against us and we will not accept it. We will fight and we will not stop. EVER. https://t.co/K0wuVKXxho
— Amber Tamblyn (@ambertamblyn) May 3, 2022
Author Jodi Picoult offered sharp words regarding the ruling.
So let me get this right: I don’t get to tell you to wear a mask during a pandemic… but YOU can make me carry a pregnancy I don’t want or that isn’t safe to term (and then of course be solely financially responsible for the baby)? Oh. Cool cool.
— Jodi Picoult (@jodipicoult) May 3, 2022
See more reactions to the news below:
Get your Boots off our wombs
— ✌🏼rosanna arquette (@RoArquette) May 3, 2022
Those motherf*****s really did it. First they came for Black voters, then they targeted LGBTQ+ families. Now, women of America, they’re overruling Roe v. Wade.
We have to unite and strike back. Take to the streets. Overwhelm them at the ballot box. They have gone too damn far.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 3, 2022
Roe v Wade has been overturned. Yes I know. Stay in my lane. Well I’d love to be posting about the met gala but this is the only attendee I care about.
President Hillary Clinton never would’ve let Roe be overturned. pic.twitter.com/nOdkj2miV1— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 3, 2022
Never give up. https://t.co/5KL4TyPf2k
— Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) May 3, 2022
Once more for the people in the back: WOMEN DON’T GET PREGNANT BY THEMSELVES! Why is there zero sense of shared responsibility?! It’s pathetic, and I stand with the masses of you who are enraged and want to fight back. Hand me my armor. #BansOffOurBodies
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) May 3, 2022
Yes, everyone has been paying attention, yes, people voted in 2016 to try and address a system that has rot, corruption and inequality baked into it, all of it; rot that is driving the issues we face today. So stop scolding, get off your high horses and let’s fix this shit.
— Alex Winter (@Winter) May 3, 2022
They just wanted slavery and to deny most people the right to vote. https://t.co/btUeaWgHaT
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) May 3, 2022
Dems have the House.
Dems have the Senate.
Dems have the White House.They can abolish the filibuster and codify #RoeVWade RIGHT NOW!
Maybe some of you vote-shaming keyboard activists should get outside and use your energy to actually hold them accountable.
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) May 3, 2022
I can’t believe we are here. Book burning, bans on classroom discussions about race and sexuality, the erosion of voter’s rights aimed at the poor and people of color. It’s literally a right wing crack down on democratic norms. The worst are full of passionate intensity.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 3, 2022
Why don’t we do that thing where we drive our trucks/cars to DC and clog up the streets? That seems to get attention.
— Rob Huebel (@robhuebel) May 3, 2022
Now do Supreme Court Justices who lied under oath during Senate confirmation hearings before their lifetime appointments to the highest court in the land. https://t.co/5sUyk0Xeec
— Bradley Whitford (@BradleyWhitford) May 3, 2022
The scariest part is Alito’s claim that civil rights must be “deeply rooted in this nation’s history and tradition.”
Sorry gay rights, interracial marriage, all civil rights fought for over the past 100 years – you apparently aren’t legit either. Terrifying.— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) May 3, 2022
It’s particularly galling that Alito cites societal acceptance of single motherhood as a reason to steal a woman’s right to control her own body when it was Paleo-misogynists like him that stigmatized it in the first place
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) May 3, 2022
Well said. https://t.co/fw7PX7Svu4
— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) May 3, 2022