Dear Bruce Springsteen, please cancel your concerts in anti-abortion states | Opinion

Springsteen Stand Up For Heroes

Springsteen performs remotely for Stand Up For Heroes benefit concert, on Nov. 18, 2020. Springsteen is known for taking political stances and two long-time fans are begging him to support women's reproductive rights by canceling his upcoming shows in anti-abortion states.

By Jay Friedman and Yana V. Rodgers

The Boss supports women’s reproductive rights. Why is he performing in states that take them away?

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band will play shows in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio as part of their newly announced 2023 North American Tour. These five states have the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. We ask that Bruce cancel his concerts in these states and send a message that the E Street Band does not do business with states that deny women the right to an abortion.

With the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, decisions about the legality of the medical procedure reverted to state legislators. While abortion remains legal in New Jersey, it is now banned, with very limited exceptions, in Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, and it is banned at six weeks and later in Georgia and Ohio. A 10-year-old rape victim was denied an abortion in Ohio and had to travel to Indiana for services.

Ultimately, abortion will be outlawed or severely restricted in 26 states once all of the bans and “trigger laws” take effect.

The Supreme Court’s decision is not only a devastating blow to bodily autonomy but also a constraint on economic freedoms. Women who are denied an abortion because of restrictive laws are less likely to be employed full time, and they are more likely to live in poverty and to require public assistance compared to women who obtain abortions.

Research shows that women who are able to delay childbirth until they have greater economic and emotional security are able to have closer relationships with their children and raise them in relatively better economic circumstances. Restrictions on abortion access in the United States have disproportionately affected low-income women and women of color. Growing evidence shows that restrictions exacerbate existing disparities in unintended pregnancy rates for marginalized communities.

              
    
               

Restrictive abortion laws increase the time it takes to reach and receive abortion services and can lead to significant delays in care-seeking. Forcing those who are pregnant to delay an abortion endangers their physical health, as individuals who have abortions in the second trimester face a greater risk of medical complications.

Numerous organizations have issued formal statements condemning the Supreme Court’s decision and voicing their support for women’s access to a comprehensive range of reproductive health services. Many companies have announced steps to help their employees cover the additional costs of seeking abortions if they have to travel farther to get access.

Some companies are showing their clout by relocating employees (Google, Salesforce) and corporate headquarters (Duolingo) to other states. Some have offered to bail out protestors who get arrested (Patagonia), and others are threatening to move conferences and retreats.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have a lot of political clout and now is a good time to use it.

Often channeling Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, The Boss is no stranger to making political statements. In 2016, Bruce and the E Street Band cancelled their show in North Carolina – just days before it was supposed to take place – in protest of the state’s new “Bathroom Law” requiring that transgender people only use bathrooms that correspond with their sex at birth. In his statement on the matter, Bruce wrote that he wanted to show solidarity with people and organizations who opposed the new law. He also wrote that he objected to a law that violated the human rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace.

Bruce has a long history of taking a stand. He publicly supported women’s rights, women’s health, and Roe v. Wade at a 2012 rally for Barack Obama, and he angered the pro-life community by taking a pro-choice stance. He has also spoken out against the uneven policies of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

The Boss supported the No Nukes Concerts in 1979 and the Vote for Change concerts in 2004, and he released the Grammy-winning Streets of Philadelphia in 1994 supporting AIDS victims. Also in 1994, he spoke out against California’s Proposition 187, an anti-immigration ballot initiative.

None of these actions went unnoticed. Raising awareness is part of his persona. There is no reason to stop now.

In our Letter to You, Mr. Springsteen, we ask you to again show your support for women’s rights and women’s health by canceling the shows you have planned in states with abortion bans and rescheduling those shows in states that are protecting access to abortion. We implore you to use your platform of faith, hope, and love to speak loudly once again. Reproductive rights matter.

Jay Friedman has attended nearly 200 Springsteen concerts since 1978.

Yana V. Rodgers is the faculty director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

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