Alyssa Milano calls for a sex strike to protest anti-abortion laws, gets slammed on Twitter – By Sara M Moniuszko (USA Today) / May 11 2019
Alyssa Milano is calling on her followers to join her in a sex strike to protest anti-abortion laws – and the response has not been great.
The actress and activist, 46, took to Twitter late Friday to share her idea, which comes after one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation was signed in Georgia earlier this week. The “heartbeat bill” makes it illegal to have an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected in the womb — about six weeks into a pregnancy.
“Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy,” she wrote. “JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on.”
The tweet has garnered a lot of attention with over 17,000 likes and 14,000 replies, causing the hashtag to trend on the social media platform Saturday.
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. pic.twitter.com/uOgN4FKwpg
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 11, 2019
In a follow-up post, Milano reiterated her motivation behind the strike.
“We can LOVE sex and fight for our bodily autonomy. There are lots of alternatives to cis men,” she tweeted. “Protect your vaginas, ladies. Men in positions of power are trying to legislate them.”
We can LOVE sex and fight for our bodily autonomy. There are lots of alternatives to cis men.
Protect your vaginas, ladies. Men in positions of power are trying to legislate them. #SexStrike pic.twitter.com/yPCXuMt286
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 11, 2019
The attention wasn’t all positive, however. Many tweets about Milano’s strike have found fault with her message.
“Please stop feeding the narrative that women are providers and men are consumers of sex,” one person tweeted. “Bribing men for equal rights with access to our bodies is not how feminism works.”
“This makes it seem like sex is something women do as a favor to men; it also furthers the misogynist theory that women should be shamed for liking sex at all,” another said. “Sorry, @Alyssa_Milano, but I hate this.”
“Isn’t this called abstinence? And isn’t this exactly what conservatives wanted?” another tweeted.
Others supported the strike.
“if they want to control our bodies reproductive organs, (then) we should deny sex to cis men,” one person tweeted.
“Join us in helping cis men feel the physical consequences of our reproductive rights being systematically eliminated!” another tweeted.
