Bette Midler is calling on women to abstain from sex with men until they are guaranteed the right by law to choose what to do with their own bodies. As you can guess, some men (and even some women) were not pleased.
One day after a strict new anti-abortion law in Texas was enacted that restricts abortions when a pregnancy has reached six weeks, the actress and activist proposed a somewhat unorthodox protest.
“I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress,” Midler tweeted Thursday.
The new law banning the abortion of fetuses over six weeks old went into effect overnight in Texas on Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court voted to not act on it. It also allows abortion providers, people who seek abortions and even those who drive people to receive an abortion to be sued and potentially pay damages of at least $10,000.
Backlash has been swift and fierce. In the days since the tweet was published, Midler has been faced with a slew of attacks.
Fellow actress Rosanna Arquette replied to Midler’s tweet with concern, writing, “But then again men with angry Guns and rape not being a much of a crime in Texas. Watch this space.”
Still, Midler is receiving plenty of support for her tweet.
Nancy Sinatra replied that, “My dad actually suggested that decades ago.” And Jane Lynch wrote, “Lysistrata for modern times,” referring to the ancient Greek comedy in which women withhold sex as a means of ending the Peloponnesian War.
Check out some more highlights here.
And then there were those that supported Midler’s proposition in theory but not exactly in practice…and others who’d already been protesting for years, apparently.
