'Restrictive abortion laws punish and endanger girls': Emma Watson's support for abortion rights has some fans upset
Emma Watson isn’t shy about sharing her political beliefs when it comes to feminist (or antifeminist) policies. Over the weekend, she shared an open letter she wrote for Porter magazine addressed to Savita Halappanavar, the woman whose death became a rallying cry for Ireland to repeal its longtime ban on abortion.
“You didn’t want to become the face of a movement; you wanted a procedure that would have saved your life,” Watson began her letter to Halappanavar.
Ireland voted to legalize abortion in May, and the president made the repeal official in September. The Eighth Amendment previously prohibited the procedure unless there was a serious risk to the mother’s health, though some doctors would still refuse to perform an abortion in those cases. Thousands of women traveled outside of the country to terminate a pregnancy each year, but others like Halappanavar didn’t have that opportunity.
When doctors at an Irish hospital found that she was miscarrying 17 weeks into her pregnancy, she was refused the procedure multiple times because a fetal heartbeat was detected. The 31-year-old dentist died in 2012, a week after first going to the hospital.
It was a great honour to be asked by @PORTERmagazine to pay the deepest respect to the legacy of Dr Savita Halappanavar, whose death powered the determination of activists to change Irish abortion laws & fight for reproductive justice all over the world. https://t.co/KZWRpp7btO pic.twitter.com/yLDXgcHKyh
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) September 29, 2018
“That the eighth amendment enabled valuing the life of an unborn fetus over a living woman was a wake-up call to a nation,” Watson wrote. “For you, and those forced to travel to the U.K. to access safe, legal abortion, justice was hard-won. From Argentina to Poland, restrictive abortion laws punish and endanger girls, women and pregnant people. Still, Northern Ireland’s abortion law predates the lightbulb.”
Watson’s letter ended with a call to action, urging people to support the global abortion funds Abortion Support Network and Women Help Women. But while fellow feminists praised her activism, she also faced backlash online from those who oppose abortion rights.
I'm sorry, i don't know you, but i'm not interested either. i only know that you worked in Harry Potter and that i never liked that movie. Just for being an insuccessful actress does not give you the right to comment and influence in social problems that you don't know.
— Erika 💙 (@Enholan) October 1, 2018
She didn’t die because of an abortion being denied, and the laws were actually lightened immediately after this. The recent referendum merely destroyed a baby’s right to life, glad we can all celebrate such a joyous achievement!!!
— Putting the extra characters to use (@DareToTettey) September 30, 2018
How confused a person must be to describe the killing of an innocent baby as “reproductive justice.”
— mary jo anderson (@maryjoanderson3) October 1, 2018
Reese Witherspoon received similar backlash in September for speaking out about reproductive rights. After Witherspoon retweeted the transcript of California Sen. Kamala Harris asking President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh if any laws give the government power over men’s bodies, some people online told her to keep her “Hollywood elite” politics to herself.
THIS 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 https://t.co/D9UEXuyVfS
— Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) September 6, 2018
As debates about reproductive rights heat up around the globe, celebrities are increasingly using their prominence to speak out and encourage fans to support women’s autonomy.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Chelsea Clinton takes on trolls accusing her of worshipping Satan because she’s pro abortion rights
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