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27th Jun 2022

Women are going on a sex strike after abortion rights were overturned in the US

Charlie Herbert

Women in US suggest sex strike following Roe v Wade ruling

Thousands have been protesting since the Supreme Court’s decision last week

Women in America have suggested going on a ‘sex strike’ in protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.

On Friday (June 24), the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a Mississippi law in Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization which would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In the process, the court overturned a number of key precedents set in the 1973 case Roe v Wade, which ruled that women in the US have a constitutional right to an abortion.

The court’s ruling has effectively criminalised abortion in half of America with 25 states now set to introduce laws, or reintroduce old laws, which outlaw the procedure. Some of these laws will outlaw the procedure in the majority of scenarios, but others will not even make an exception in cases of rape and incest.

Following the announcement, the term ‘abstinence’ began trending on social media as many began suggesting that women should go on a ‘sex strike’ in protest.

Speaking to the New York Post, Brianna Campbell also said she supported the idea.

The 24-year-old told the publication: “If you’re a man who won’t get a vasectomy, even though it’s reversible, and you’re not out in the streets fighting for my rights, you do not deserve to have sex with me.”

Another who agreed with the protest was 22-year-old Caroline Healey.

She said: “Why shouldn’t we withhold it if we’re always worried that they’re not going [to] put a condom on, that they’re going [to] take one off after we ask them to.

“If we can’t safely go out and have sex and know that we will have a choice after that, then why should we be expected to?”

Protests have taken place across the US over the weekend since the Supreme Court’s decision was announced.

Hundreds have gathered outside the Supreme Court to voice their anger.

Protestors outside the Supreme Court on Saturday (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Protests in Union Square, Manhattan, following the news of the Supreme Court’s decision (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden labelled the decision to overturn Roe v Wade as one that puts the “the health and life of women in this nation” at risk.

He also pointed out that three justices appointed to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump had been the “core” of the decision to overturn the ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled in the Mississippi law’s favour in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization by five votes to three, with one abstention.

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