The multi-talented Bette Midler joined those speaking out against a restrictive new abortion law in Texas this week. That law bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — at which point many don’t even know that they’re pregnant, and it includes provisions allowing for lawsuits from members of the public against individuals suspected of helping in some fashion with the procurement of an illegal abortion. Should such lawsuits prove their claims, then the individuals behind them are entitled to at least $10,000 — meaning that Texas Republicans have essentially set up a bounty system for those providing or helping with abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy.
For the time being, Midler suggested that women refuse to have sex with male partners in protest of the Texas abortion law. As she put it on Twitter:
‘I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress.’
I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) September 3, 2021
Midler also commented as follows:
‘The cruelty of the #GOP is endless. We are suffering COVID-19, hurricanes, apocalyptic flooding, wildfires from hell, joblessness, homelessness, evictions, racial strife, and they pick this hideous time to pile on yet another shock to women, by taking away their right to choose.’
The cruelty of the #GOP is endless. We are suffering COVID-19, hurricanes, apocalyptic flooding, wildfires from hell, joblessness, homelessness, evictions, racial strife, and they pick this hideous time to pile on yet another shock to women, by taking away their right to choose.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) September 2, 2021
Midler is right, of course. Amid simultaneous national crises, Republicans have yet again chosen to go after the rights of the less fortunate. Even the Texas abortion ban is poised to have especially damaging impacts on marginalized communities, because since abortion remains legal outside of the state, abortion is now broadly accessible to Texans only if they have the financial means to venture elsewhere. Meanwhile, top federal officials including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Attorney General Merrick Garland have also spoken out, pledging to examine the possibilities of federal action to protect abortion rights for pregnant people in Texas.
