Alyssa Milano calls for 'sex strike' against Georgia's heartbeat bill 'until we get bodily autonomy back'
Actress Alyssa Milano has set social media ablaze with her call for a "sex strike" to protest the strict abortion laws passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures. The 'Charmed' and 'Melrose Place' star, in a tweet, has called on all women to join her in the strike and stop having sex "until we get bodily autonomy back".
"Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back," reads the tweet.
Milano has called for the strike in protest against Georgia's controversial "heartbeat bill", which bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected – about six weeks into a pregnancy, which is before many women even know they are pregnant.
The bill makes exceptions in cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger. Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa, and North Dakota are the other states that have similar abortion laws. In Georgia, the law takes effect in January.
Milano's tweet has garnered a lot of attention on social media, with over 17,000 likes and 14,000 replies. Milano is also one of more than 40 Hollywood celebrities who have signed a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and House Speaker David Ralston claiming that they will urge TV and film production companies to abandon shooting in the state if the heartbeat abortion bill becomes a law. The 46-year-old actress was also instrumental in Hollywood's #MeToo movement.
The sex strike has received mixed responses, with liberals saying she was pushing a false narrative that women only have sex as a favor to men and conservatives showering praise for promoting abstinence.
Singer-songwriter Bette Midler has joined her in calling for a sex strike.
In a guest column written for Deadline on March 25 titled 'When it comes to women's rights in Georgia, Hollywood is silent', Milano reminded the state how Georgia’s film industry was ready to "pack up and leave" in 2016 after the General Assembly passed the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was "essentially a license to discriminate against the state’s LGBTQ+ community." The actress had asked the leaders of Georgia to rethink the bill as it would make Georgia a state "that is not welcoming of women."