Meghan Markle Joined Gloria Steinem in the Urgent Fight for Reproductive Rights: 'We Have to Do the Work'
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After last Friday’s SCOTUS ruling that overturned the landmark case Roe v. Wade, the fight for reproductive rights feels more urgent than ever. 50 years worth of federal law protecting reproductive health care and ensuring people who can become pregnant have bodily autonomy was swiftly taken away, and now citizens and public figures alike are calling for action. Among those famous names using their platform to highlight the gravity of this post-Roe world is Meghan Markle, who joined in a thoughtful conversation with Gloria Steinem.
“This is having a very real impact on women’s bodies and lives starting now,” the Duchess of Sussex shared in a joint Vogue interview with Steinem and journalist Jessica Yellin. “Women are already sharing stories of how their physical safety is being put in danger,” Meghan continued. The mom of two noted that while some will be able to “travel to get an abortion,” those who do not have the same resources “might attempt to give themselves one at tremendous risk.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are fiercely advocating for a cause close to all working moms. https://t.co/VS5jKioilT
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The latter sentiment is something Steinem knows all too well. “Perhaps because I’ve been here longer, which means I’ve been here before, I say we are going to do what we need and wish to do,” the longtime activist and journalist said. “The need and the right to govern one’s own body continues. We need to translate it into a political reality.”
Meghan, who counts husband Prince Harry as an ally in this fight — “He’s a feminist too,” she says — witnessed and felt the reaction across the nation once Roe was overturned. “I know that for so many women right now, there is a sentiment of despair,” Meghan said, speaking to the painful feeling that’s stung so many over the course of the last few days. “But again, we have to band together and not wallow. We have to do the work.”
We’ve already seen so many people mobilizing on the ground, in their communities, and across the nation to defend a person’s right to choose. Given that the overturning of Roe v. Wade will undoubtedly lead to more questions regarding the right to privacy in America, the fight feels more serious than ever. Just as Meghan says, “If you are someone who truly believes that there can be something better, if you’re someone who sees injustice, you have a choice: You can sit there and be complacent and watch it, or you can say, ‘What can I do to get us to the other side of this?’” That’s the question we all have to answer at this vital moment.
Meghan: A Hollywood Princess by Andrew Morton
Image: Grand Central Publishing
When Meghan Markle officially joined the royal family in 2018, the world was captivated by the Hollywood starlet who’d won the heart of Prince Harry. But there’s so much more to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex than meets the eye. Andrew Morton takes longtime royal fans all the way back to Meghan’s humble beginnings growing up in The Valley of Los Angeles, working her way through Hollywood, and surging to prominence on the series Suits. Learn more about what’s made the resilient woman the royal she is today, and get a sense of how Meghan’s past has informed her present and future.
Buy: Meghan: A Hollywood Princess $7.80
Before you go, check out these brave celebrity women who have opened up about their abortion stories: