Lizzo has pledged $500,000 to Planned Parenthood and the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) from the profits of her upcoming Special Tour, following the June 24 Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to a safe abortion.
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“I’m pledging $500k from my upcoming tour to Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights,” posted Lizzo on her Twitter and Instagram accounts. “Live Nation agreed to match, to make it $1 million dollars.”
Under the Supreme Court ruling banning the right to an abortion in the U.S., states have been granted the ultimate decision-making power over providing access to abortion services, and whether or not to make abortion illegal. Some states have already started to move ahead in shutting down abortion services. In Arkansas, for example, appointments that were scheduled for weeks were canceled directly following the ruling on June 24, leaving many women forced to leave their home state to receive the health services they need.
Travel costs can become a restriction, and organizations like the NNAF are working to assist with these needs and provided resources where needed.
“The most important thing is action and loud voices,” Lizzo wrote in a follow-up post. “Planned Parenthood and NNAF and organizations like them will need funding to continue offering services to people who are most harmed by this ban.”
She added, “Black women and women of color have historically had disproportionately less access to family planning resources— this is a great loss but not a new one.”
In addition to matching Lizzo’s donation of $550,000, Live Nation has also pledged to cover travel expenses for female employees needing health care outside of their home state, and covering the bail expenses for any employees who are arrested in protest related to the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade.
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