Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t here for attacks on abortion access in the United States.
At a recent United Nations engagement, the Duke of Sussex spoke out against the Supreme Court’s devastating June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that protected abortion rights nationwide for nearly 50 years. He described its reversal as a “global assault on democracy and freedom.”
Harry & Meghan Are Cementing Their Status as Feminist Activists in NYC
“This has been a painful year in a painful decade,” he added, citing everything from the rolling back of constitutional rights in the U.S. to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. He also paid tribute to his late mother, the beloved Princess Diana, and pioneering South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.
Prince Harry’s stance on abortion rights should come as no surprise to those familiar with his wife, Meghan Markle, who views him as a “feminist” and has said they share a similar view of the world. The American-born Duchess of Sussex, who has lived in California with her husband and their two children since 2020, has also spoken publicly about the “pain and grief” of experiencing a miscarriage.
“I know what it feels like to have a connection to what is growing inside of your body,” Markle told Vogue in the immediate aftermath of Roe’s reversal. “What happens with our bodies is so deeply personal, which can also lead to silence and stigma, even though so many of us deal with personal health crises. I know what miscarrying feels like, which I’ve talked about publicly. The more that we normalize conversation about the things that affect our lives and bodies, the more people are going to understand how necessary it is to have protections in place.”
She went on to discuss the increased risk of danger for pregnant people in the 13 U.S. states that have already banned or severely restricted abortions. Black women and women of color like Markle, who is biracial, will be “most impacted by these decisions because most of us don’t have the same access to health care, economic opportunity, mental health resources…the list goes on,” she explained.
“Nobody should be forced to make a decision they do not want to make, or is unsafe, or puts their own life in jeopardy,” the Duchess added.
Royals — they really are just like us!
Before you go, check out celebrities who opened up about their own abortion stories:
