Rihanna is a global superstar with wide appeal, a fact that’s particularly noteworthy because she’s never been afraid to speak her mind on topics a lot of big celebrities avoid tackling for fear of controversy.
In the last presidential election, she let her preference for Hillary Clinton be known. Following Donald Trump’s election, she attended the Woman’s March. When Victoria’s Secret made a series of unfortunate statements around model casting, she tapped Instagram’s like button to let her distaste for the brand’s opinions.
Today (May 16, 2019) on Instagram (even as she’s in the midst of prepping for her very first Fenty runway show in Paris), she pushed back news of an extremely restrictive abortion law signed into law by Alabama governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday. The law bans all abortions unless the pregnant person’s life is at risk. Doctors who perform an abortion on women who’s lives aren’t at risk could face up to 99 years in prison.
Under a a widely-circulated image of the 25 white male Alabamian senators who voted for the restrictive bill, Rihanna wrote, “take a look. these are the idiots making decisions for WOMEN in America. Governor Kay Ivey..SHAME ON YOU!!!!”
While men were responsible for passing the bill, it was sponsored by Alabama house representative Terri Collins, a woman, and signed into law by a female governor.
All is not lost, however. While signed into law, it won’t be put into effect for another six months. Already, two organizations are planning challenges. In the meantime, the state’s three clinics offering abortion services are still open. Currently abortion remains legal in all 50 states.
At the same time, Collins said the bill was written with a bigger goal of making abortion illegal in the United States. “What I’m trying to do here is get this case in front of the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be overturned,” said Collins according to Vox.