Billie Eilish is a headliner. As one of the biggest music artists in the world, when she speaks, she is heard. That typically happens on some of the biggest stages possible, too, and she took full advantage of her platform during her Austin City Limits Music Festival set over the weekend.
In front of large projections that read “Bans Off Our Bodies,” Eilish condemned the recently passed law in Texas that makes abortion “functionally illegal,” as The New York Times wrote.
“When they made that shit a law, I almost didn’t want to do this show,” Eilish said during her set, as captured by fan videos, “because I wanted to punish this fucking place for allowing that to happen here. But then I remembered that it’s you guys that are the fucking victims, and you deserve everything in the world.”
“We need to tell them to shut the fuck up!” she continued, commanding the crowd to raise a middle finger in the air with her. “My body, my fucking choice!”
The new law in Texas bans abortions later than roughly six weeks, well before most women even know they’re pregnant. Since it went into effect in September, after the Supreme Court failed to block it, health-care advocates have worried that it could be a stepping stone to further undermining or even overruling Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that set up constitutional protection for abortion.
In the past, Eilish has supported Planned Parenthood and been vocal about body image, particularly the sexualization of young women and double standards to which they’re held.
At Austin City Limits, fellow performer Phoebe Bridgers posted to her story that she was watching Eilish’s set and uploaded a photo of the projections behind Eilish during her condemnation of the law. “And then I cried,” she captioned.
On Eilish’s own Instagram, meanwhile, she shared a photo in a Glastonbury hoodie along with the caption “2022,” confirming she will headline the iconic, long-running U.K. festival next year. She’ll become the youngest solo headliner to ever do so.
