Calls for 'Sex Strike' Issued at Abortion Protests in US & Online Following Roe v Wade Overturn
© AP Photo / Yuki Iwamura
Subscribe
One proclamation on social media urged women to refrain from sex, even with their own husbands, as they now “cannot take the risk of an unintended pregnancy”.
As the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that essentially declared abortion to be a constitutional right in the United States, a number of people voiced their support both online and offline for a “sex strike”.
According to New York Post, one activist, a 22-year-old event coordinator named Caroline Healey, told them at an abortion protest held in the Union Square that she believes it is “absolutely valid” for women “to be withholding the Holy Grail that men seem to think is important.”
“Why shouldn’t we withhold it if we’re always worried that they’re not going put a condom on, that they’re going take one off after we ask them to,” she said.
Another protester, Brianna Campbell, even declared: “If you’re a man who won’t get a vasectomy, even though it’s reversible, and you’re not out in the streets fighting for my rights, you do not deserve to have sex with me.”
The newspaper also notes that “abstinence” started trending on Twitter this weekend, with a number of netizens echoing a call for a “sex strike”.
“Women of America: Take the Pledge!!!” reads a proclamation posted on Twitter. “Because SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, we cannot take the risk of an unintended pregnancy, therefore, we will not have sex with any man – including our husbands – unless we are trying to become pregnant.”
my legs are CLOSED! 🚫 #SexStrike pic.twitter.com/B2ILNb83TG
— marilynn 💕 #FreeWendy (@dumbledore) June 26, 2022
Some, however, did not seem to share that sentiment, with one netizen appearing puzzled by the “logic behind going on a #sexstrike.”
“Who exactly are you hurting by doing this aside from yourself and your partner?” the netizen inquired. “And if you love abortions the world is probably better off if you don’t have sex anyway.”
I don’t understand the logic behind going on a #sexstrike. Who exactly are you hurting by doing this aside from yourself and your partner? And if you love abortions the world is probably better off if you don’t have sex anyway.
— alice magdalene (@alicemagdalene_) June 26, 2022
