On Sunday, stars at the BET Awards made statements about Roe v Wade’s landmark abortion rights decision.
After Lizzo had opened the show, Taraji P.Henson, the host of the award show, welcomed the audience with a performance. That’s how you open a show. This is all about body positivity. Henson also thanked Lizzo for her $1 million pledge to Planned Parenthood.”
“And you’re right, ‘It is about damn time. It’s about damntime we step into power,” Henson said, quoting Lizzo from “About Damn Time”.
“It’s time to talk about the fact guns have more rights that a woman. She said that it was a sad day for America. “A weapon that can kill lives is more powerful than one that can save them. If she chooses, it can do so. It’s time to get that off my chest.
Janelle Monae, a singer, said, “I’d love to give a special shout out to Black women and to Black queer artist, to Black non-binary artist,” while presenting the first award of the night. “These artists are making art on their own terms, owning and expressing themselves freely in a world that attempts to control and police bodies. My body is my body, our decisions are mine. F*** you, Supreme Court.”
Monae presented JazmineSullivan with the award for Best Female R&B/Pop Actor. Monae said that she wanted to talk directly to men and ask them to stand by women. You should be supporting us if you have ever seen a woman make one of the most difficult decisions in her life, which was to end a pregnancy. This is not a problem that only women have to face. This is everyone’s issue,” Sullivan stated.
Latto used part of her acceptance speech as a way to make a statement when she won the award for Best New Artist. She said, “It’s giving pro-choice.”
She said, “It’s never giving any man policing me body.”
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks was sufficient to be upheld. This ruling also reverses the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established the constitutional right for an abortion.
States can now set their own restrictions. This means that people will be able to access abortion regardless of where they live.
Justice Samuel Alito gave the majority opinion and wrote: “Roe was egregiously incorrect from the beginning. The reasoning of the majority opinion was weak and has had devastating consequences. Alito was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.
The three liberal justices of the court dissented, and Chief Justice John Roberts gave a concurring opinion. He stated that although he agreed that the Roe viability line should be scrapped and Mississippi’s law should be upheld, he believes that the Roe and Planned Parenthood cases should not be changed.
Celebrations and protests outside of the court, as well as across the country, began shortly after the announcement and continued throughout the weekend.