PARIS, France – When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were serving as working royals and representing the monarchy in a formal capacity, they remained tight – lipped on any issue that could be deemed too political – though what exactly crossed the line was unclear. Prince Charles’s focus on climate change, for example, had been deemed appropriate for decades.
But now that she has steeped away from the official royal role, Meghan is making a decidedly political statement, sharing her reaction to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade in a new conversation with Gloria Steinem, moderate by journalist Jessica Yellin, over on Vogue.com
Describing her reaction to the ruling restricting abortion access as ‘guttural’, Meghan spoke about how the reversal of Rie v. Wade is already affecting women’s live and bodies. ‘Women are already sharing stories of how their physical safety is being put in danger. Women with resources will travel to get an abortion, those without might attempt to give themselves one at tremendous risk’, she said. ‘What does this tell women? It tells us that our physical safety doesn’t matter, and as a result that we don’t matter. But we do. Women matter’.
The Duchess of Sussex also reflected on the impact the ruling will have on the Black community. ‘Women of color and especially Black women are most impacted by these decisions because most of us don’t have the same access to health care, economic opportunity what this decision is going to do to these communities’, she said.
And she called for men to support reproductive rights. ‘Men need to be vocal in this moment and beyond because these are decisions that affect relationship, families, and communities at large. They may target women, but the consequences impact all of us. My husband and I talks about that a lot over the past few days. He’s a feminist too’, she said, speaking, of course, about Prince Harry. ‘His reaction last week was guttural, like mine, I know that for so many women right now, there is a sentiment of despair. But again, we have to band together and not wallow. We have to do the work.
Meghan also made it clear that this was only the beginning of her work on the issue. She plans to continue advocating for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment alongside Steinem, even suggesting that she would like to go to D.C. to campaign for its enactment. ‘Well, Gloria, maybe it seems as though you and I will be taking a trip to D.C. together soon’, she said.
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