Ariana Grande has reportedly donated the proceeds from her sold-out 8th June concert in Atlanta, Georgia, to Planned Parenthood – an organisation that fights to protect reproductive rights of women across the globe. The generous donation from the former Disney star, reported to be for $300,000USD (approx. £235,252), comes after a slew of anti-abortion bills were passed into across several southern states.
Last month, Georgia joined the list of a growing number of US states to pass House Bill 481 – otherwise known as the “Heartbeat Bill” – a law that makes abortion illegal the moment a heartbeat can be detected. According to the NHS, this can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Other states to have passed the bill include Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ohio, and Kentucky.
President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Dr. Leana Wen was quick to highlight the importance of Grande’s donation, stating to People that it had come at a “critical time” when “across the country, anti-women’s health politicians are trying to ban all safe, legal abortion. This is not what the American people want, nor is it something they’ll stand for.”
Wen continued: “Thanks to inspiring support like hers [Grande’s], Planned Parenthood can continue to fight back – in the courts, in Congress, in state houses, and in the streets – against these dangerous attacks on people’s health and lives. We are so grateful to Ariana for her longstanding commitment to supporting women’s rights and standing with Planned Parenthood to defend access to reproductive health care. We won’t stop fighting – no matter what.”
The ‘Seven Rings’ hit-maker stands alongside Rihanna, Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga as the latest in a list of celebrities to have publicly condemned the abortion bills.
Hollywood studios, Disney and Netflix, also took a stand last month by threatening to boycott future film and production projects in Georgia, should they decide to pass the anti-abortion bills. Although the bill has since been passed, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has vowed to partner with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the legal fight against the bill. “We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law,” Sarandos said in a statement.
In recent years, Georgia has become an attractive shooting location for films including Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War, after tax incentives to productions that agree to film in the state were introduced a little over a decade ago.
