Rock band Rage Against the Machine have said they will donate almost half a million dollars from ticket sales to reproductive rights organisations, after the US Supreme Court overturned the right to have an abortion.
Almost 30 states in the US are more than likely set to introduce new abortion restrictions or bans, as a result.
Last week, the Supreme Court, which is the most senior legal body in the US, overturned Roe v. Wade, which was a significant ruling in 1973 that guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights.
In a statement on Instagram, Rage Against the Machine said: “We are disgusted by the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the devastating impact it will have on tens of millions of people. Over half of the country (26 states) is likely to ban or seriously restrict abortion very soon, if not immediately, which will have a disproportionate impact on poor, working class and undocumented BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and people of colour] communities.”
The band then revealed that at the time of posting on Friday, fans had raised $475,000 (£387,000/€449,000) from the sale of charity tickets at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin and United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
“We are donating that money to reproductive rights organisations in Wisconsin and Illinois,” the statement said.
“Like the many women who have organised sophisticated railroads of resistance to challenge these attacks on our collective reproductive freedom, we must continue to resist.”
Singer Lizzo also announced that she will be donating $500,000 from her upcoming ‘Special’ tour to support abortion access groups. Entertainment company Live Nation said that it would match her donation to reach $1m.
Image: Scott Penner/ CC BY-SA 2.0 / Edited for size