Alyssa Milano Vows To Fight For Women After Abortion Bans: We Need To Listen & Hear Their Stories

After states like Georgia and Alabama passed archaic bills infringing on women’s lives, Alyssa Milano wants people to sit down and listen to women about their experiences.

Alyssa Milano wants to go even further than her proposed Sex Strike after multiple states, including Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio, voted to almost completely ban abortions. The actress and activist, 46, told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that in order to keep moving forward as women’s fundamental rights are threatened, “we need to listen to women and we need to hear about how important it is to have bodily autonomy, how important it is to be able to make our own family planning decisions, and how that shapes our confidence and lives.” One thing that Alyssa stressed when we spoke to her at Lifetime’s Summer Luau event, is that we must “politicize” issues like the abortion bans in order to “dehumanize” them.

And in order to do that, Alyssa believes we need to hear more women’s stories — and listen to them. “I think we are seeing a lot more of women speaking up right now [about protecting women’s rights], and that is exhilarating to watch,” she said. Alyssa has never held back when it comes to speaking out about the injustices facing women in the United States. She was at the forefront of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, and supported the Women’s March from Day 1. When Georgia passed their “fetal heartbeat” bill on May 10, which bans women from getting abortions after a fetus’ heartbeat can be detected — around six weeks. At six weeks, many women don’t even know that they’re pregnant, and then, under the planned law, it would be too late to get an abortion should they want one.

The absurd bill also states that women could be charged with murder and imprisoned for getting an abortion, and even investigated for murder if they have a miscarriage. Alyssa took to Twitter after the news broke and announced her #sexstrike. “If our choices are denied, so are yours,” she wrote. 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. I’m calling for a #sexstrike. Pass it on.”

Four days later, Alabama passed an equally sickening abortion ban. Underneath the new law, which will go into effect on New Year’s Day 2020 (should it not be stricken down in court first), women will only be allowed to get an abortion if doctors determine their lives are in danger. In any other situation, including rape or incest, abortion is illegal. While women who get abortions won’t be prosecuted, doctors who perform abortions could be sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Alyssa told us that she would be open to combining her two worlds by creating or starring in movies that address these issues. “Once we are in a place we are comfortable enough to discuss the chaos that is happening, then I think that is going to be very beneficial actually. I think it will bring both sides together in a human way,” she said.

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