“WE WILL NOT GO BACK—AND WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN.”
So says a defiant statement organized by Planned Parenthood and placed in a full-page ad in Friday’s New York Times. With the hashtag #BansOffOurBodies, 160 young recording artists signed their names to the message, stating, “We are Artists. Creators. Storytellers. We are the new generation stepping into power. Now we are being robbed of our power.”
The signatories are a who’s who of pop music artists and influences, including Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Ariana DeBose, Olivia Rodrigo, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Hailee Steinfeld, Phoebe Bridgers, Kendall Jenner, Miley Cyrus, Halsey, and many others. Some men showed up too, including Finneas O’Connel, Shawn Mendes, Asa Butterfield, Thomas Doherty, and more.
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The highly visible ad came in advance of Saturday’s nationwide “Bans Off Our Bodies” protests, in which thousands are expected to march in response to the recently leaked Supreme Court memo that could overturn Roe.
“The Supreme Court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, taking away the constitutional right to abortion,” the ad warned. “Our power to plan our futures and control our own bodies depends on our ability to access sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion.”
This ad is far from the first celebrity response to the Roe v. Wade decision leak. Earlier this month Phoebe Bridgers shared her abortion story, and late-night hosts like John Oliver and Stephen Colbert have used their positions to come out against the probable decision.
Some celebrities will presumably make their voices heard at various “Bans Off Our Bodies” rallies, given their ardent support of reproductive rights. Planned Parenthood is expecting as many as 50,000 people to gather outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. In New York, there is a planned march from Cadman Plaza and across the Brooklyn Bridge, and Washington, D.C., is expecting up to 15,000 protestors on the National Mall in a march to the Supreme Court.
Saturday’s action results from Planned Parenthood teaming up with other groups, such as the Women’s March, UltraViolet, MoveOn, Liberate Abortion, and SEIU.
