The first night of Glastonbury Festival kicked off with the majority of the female performers addressing the Supreme Court’s decision of overturning Roe v. Wade, as a result of which the federal right to abortions has been abolished in the U.S.
The youngest headliner in Glastonbury history Billie Eilish took the stage to introduce her song “Your Power” along with her brother and fellow artist Finneas O’Connell.
During her set Eilish addressed the audience by saying, “Today is a really dark day for women in the U.S.” She commented in between her performance of “Bad Guy” and “Happier Than Ever.”
#HTEGlastonbury: Billie introducing 'Your Power' and briefly talking about the tragic overturning of 'Roe v. Wade' at the @glastonbury festival tonight in Glastonbury, UK.
?: @jamiganz
pic.twitter.com/5ZSmXALNt4— Billie Eilish Tours (@billieeilishtrs) June 25, 2022
According to Reuters though, Eilish didn’t directly mention the SCOTUS decision. She took the Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage to perform her set on Friday night.
Another female artist who expressed frustration regarding the SCOTUS decision was Phoebe Bridgers. During her appearance, she said:
“In all honesty, [the festival is] like super surreal and fun, but I’m having like the sh—t day.”
She went on to hurl explicit words at the Supreme Court after asking if there were any Americans present in the festival and lead the chant:
“F— the Supreme Court.”
She also signed off with:
“F— that s—. F— America. Like, f—k you. All these irrelevant old motherf—s trying to tell us what to do with our f—g bodies.”
CEO of Persephonica, Dino Sofos (@dinosofos) shared a clip of Bridgers on stage:
“All these irrelevant old motherfuckers trying to tell us what to do with our fucking bodies”. @phoebe_bridgers calls out the US Supreme Court on stage at Glastonbury. She had an abortion last year. What a moment. pic.twitter.com/cKBNZdhhNr
— Dino Sofos (@dinosofos) June 24, 2022
Bridgers also spoke about abortion rights in the past prior to Friday’s events. She revealed to her Twitter fans that she had an abortion last year in October. When the Supreme Court draft was leaked, she explicitly stated that “everyone deserves that access”
Phoebe Bridgers (@phoebe_bridgers) shared her experience in a tweet:
I had an abortion in October of last year while I was on tour. I went to planned parenthood where they gave me the abortion pill. It was easy. Everyone deserves that kind of access.
Here’s a big list of places you can donate to right now. https://t.co/jT0sk6CeNX
— traitor joe (@phoebe_bridgers) May 3, 2022
Apart from the female artists speaking out against the ruling at Glastonbury, Joe Talbot, the lead singer of British rock band Idles also shared his thoughts while introducing his song ‘Mother.’
“They just reversed the laws back to the middle ages in America where they’re just deciding whether it should be illegal to have an abortion or not.”
He specifically said:
“This is for every mother and every woman and her right to choose”
Joe Talbot of @idlesband calling out the overturn of Roe v. Wade during the bands #Glastonbury2022 set#NMEGlasto pic.twitter.com/nIPe5XdWA9
— Erica Campbell (@ericacxmpbell) June 24, 2022
The Glastonbury Festival will continue throughout the weekend and more performances are to follow like Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, and Paul McCartney. Along with that, there are high chances of more comments regarding the ruling being made by such artists.
Ever since the ruling has been announced a number of public figures have expressed their views about it comparing the decision of banning abortion with that of banning guns.
Last year, Billie Eilish reacted strongly against the Texas Restrictive Abortion Laws stating how she wished men cared more. She also pointed out:
“If you and your ‘homies’ or bros’ aren’t talking about the abortion laws in Texas, chances are you’re part of a problem.”
Let us know your thoughts about Roe. v Wade ruling in the comment section below.
Chris Mack
