As more states pass anti-abortion laws, pro-abortion advocates are making their opinions on the issue known. Alyssa Milano just issued a state-by-state abortion bill guide for filmmakers, while networks and studios continue to double-down on their boycotts of states that have passed anti-abortion legislation.
Reese Witherspoon, who has typically stayed out of politics, had her own starlet tantrum on Twitter, ignoring the will of a large majority of her southern neighbors. Miley Cyrus couldn’t resist the limelight — she coupled with Marc Jacobs to produce a sweatshirt emblazoned with “Don’t F— with My Freedom,” the proceeds of which go to Planned Parenthood. Not to be left out of the drama, Gucci couldn’t resist sermonizing by adding “My Body, My Choice” to pieces from their 2020 Cruise Line of clothing.
This coterie of well-heeled women and men are desperate to make their distaste of these new laws felt. Their voices join the chorus of elite women in politics, academia, and fashion, the matriarchy — who are united by one thing — to make sure abortion stays legal and unrestricted. Reading the geriatric lines used decades ago by their grandmothers and great grandmothers, they rail against the patriarchy while fomenting panic into the hearts of women about what will happen if women can’t abort their own children. This song and dance has worked for five decades. Why change the script now?
What this elite group, who considers itself to be the conscience of the universe, has failed to see is that it has slowly morphed into Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the power-hungry archvillain in Minions who wants to become the queen of England. A raging and manipulative tyrant, Scarlet expects the world to simply get in line.
Similarly, Hollywood, using arguments concocted in the 1970s, expects conformity from its minions. For decades it has been able to count on it. Like Scarlet, however, the outrageous overreach, entitlement, and incapacity to display any kind of balance on the issue is beginning to put a strain on its influence. How else could pro-life legislation advance in states despite the matriarchy’s deep disapproval?
Over and over again, this elite group tells us that abortion is necessary to help women, while they wave wire hangers and costume themselves as the Handmaid Brigade. Without abortion, “women will be hurt,” we are told, and we are given the old and fabricated statistics about how many women died before abortion was legal.
This Scarlet Overkill requires her adherents to be rabidly pro-abortion, without actually looking at any real data. There is no, “Let’s look at the data from an objective point of view because the abortion laws were created 46 years ago and we might know more now.” Meanwhile, they are working hard to airbrush from the debate the continuously developing science around when life actually begins, when a baby’s heart starts beating, and when a baby can feel pain. Nary a consideration is given to the negative effects abortion has on women, like the abortion/breast cancer connection. When making predictions about when climate change will destroy the planet, high-profile celebrities act like they pay close attention to science, but they can’t seem to look at any abortion-related science that came after the 1970s.
For these celebrities, abortion is an unmitigated good, like seeing your hairstylist or getting your manicurist (both of whom, by the way, are probably more regulated than the local abortionist, depending on which state you live in). Like the Wizard of Oz, they don’t want us to look behind the curtain and survey the post-abortive landscape where the truth comes into focus: women hollowed out, with suicide rates climbing, substance abuse and depression rates at epidemic levels. Men, women, and children all suffering in dramatic ways from the fallout.
So why does Hollywood continue to hide behind the rhetoric? Like Scarlet, the starlets crave power and control. But Hollywood’s cultural grip doesn’t provide any other way to live. If promiscuity comes with consequences, then what recreational activities will be left? What will become of the casting couches? How will power and influence and favors be transacted?
Sadly, the contribution of our current crop of celebrities isn’t self-restraint, a commitment to the common good and the family, or a true consideration of what is actually good for women. They simply don’t care, even if they act like they do.
Carrie Gress has a doctorate in philosophy. She is the author of The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Femininity.
