"We need to understand how dire the situation is across the country."
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 on 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."
Apparently, Milano has not indicated how long the sex strike should last nor does she know how long she will participate. She highlighted reports of sex strikes in various countries dating back decades. In 2003, Liberian Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee notably incorporated a sex strike as a strategy in a women’s peace movement to bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War. Other women have called for such strikes to protest issues, including violence and political conflict.
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."