In a new video for NowThis News, Stacey Abrams gets candid about the new abortion bans in Alabama and Georgia. She also reveals how she feels about a woman’s right to choose—both as a person of faith and a woman of color.
“I grew up in a religious family. I grew up believing that the right to an abortion was wrong. And I was wrong,” Abram says in the nearly 5-minute clip. Though Abrams was raised by Methodist ministers, her views on abortion shifted during college.
“Every woman should have a choice and that’s what we should remember,” Abrams says of the recent legislation. It’s the reason why she has been leading the fight against laws banning abortion. The founder of Fair Fight Georgia also points out that counter to what Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp believes, most Southerners, and Americans overall, think that a woman should be able to make her own choices about what happens to her body.
“He very clearly said that he wanted to pass the most draconian anti-abortion legislation in the country and he nearly got there,” Abrams says of her opponent’s “Fetal Heartbeat” Bill. “Unfortunately, Alabama has usurped that position.”
On Wednesday, Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama signed into law a near-total abortion ban that allows no exceptions for cases of rape or incest and could punish doctors who perform the procedures with life in prison. It came days after Kemp signed an anti-abortion bill making it illegal for women to receive the procedure once a heartbeat is detected. That normally occurs around six weeks.
“His intention was to strip away the bodily autonomy of women and fulfill a political promise,” Abrams surmises.
The backlash for both pieces of legislation is being felt all over the country. Hollywood, in particular, is calling for a boycott of production in the state of Georgia because of it. Although Abrams doesn’t necessarily agree with the strategy, she tweeted, “Your determination to bring attention to their hateful works & right this wrong should be lauded.”