Tess Holliday wants her followers to “stay mad” after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned a 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The ruling came more than a month after a leaked memo said the court planned to eliminate federal protections for abortion.
Holliday, a body positivity advocate and model, took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the issue – and how it could lead to a reversal of other federal protections – within hours of deciding to share her thoughts on the issue.
“For all of you upset about Roe vs. Wade being overturned, stay mad,” the mother of two began her video, which was shot from a car. “Next they’re going to do this through gay marriage. They’re going to make it illegal. Stay angry. Get out on the street, do whatever you have to do, but don’t get angry.”
Many also expressed concern that Roe’s ruling set a precedent that other personal freedoms will now be set aside, such as same-sex marriage, which the court officially legalized nationwide in 2015. President Donald Trump during his time in office.
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with Roe’s decision, saying the court should now “reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents,” including cases granting gay couples the right to marry and individual participation. Same-sex intimacy.
In a message next to her video, Holliday wrote: “I went to pick up my anti-depressants in my pajamas and this country will ban Juuls before assault rifles. this is more concerned with preserving the false narrative of the “establishment” of America than its actual citizens. A country that ignores anything other than cis, white and Christian life. Feeding hungry people, but leaving us without basic dignity and human rights, affordable health care, and the right to choose what we do with our own bodies. If you are not afraid, if you are not afraid, then I would take a hard look at myself. This will affect us all, whether you like it or not.”
Holliday’s followers appreciated her enthusiasm. “We need this energy now more than ever,” one wrote, while another added, “Don’t be mad, it’s not good. This should be a human right. This is going to take a lot of lives.”
Holliday has spoken publicly about abortion before. in May 2019, she spoke out against restrictive abortion laws in Alabama and Georgia, and shared on Instagram that she underwent a medical procedure after the birth of her second child.
“If I was still in the South, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get the abortion I wanted and needed,” she wrote. “My mental health could not handle another pregnancy and I made the best decision for me and my family. It wasn’t the ‘easy thing to do’ and it was overwhelming on so many levels, but it was necessary. Will I regret or question my choice? Not at all.”
She told people at the time to share her abortion story, “I thought, ‘If I don’t talk about it, I feel like I’ll be hypocritical,’ because I’m from there and I’ve been through all of this. I’ve shared so much with my followers, and I always have, but I don’t share everything, and if I’m honest, it feels like it’s nobody’s business, and that’s not the case.”
