After the shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado this past November, actress Jennifer Lawrence has decided to make her support for the health services organization public in an interview with Glamour magazine, set to come out next month. In the interview, Lawrence speaks about the personal connection she has to Planned Parenthood which compels her to advocate for it.
“My mom was really religious with me when I was young…and I wouldn’t have been able to get birth control if it weren’t for [Planned Parenthood]” Lawrence said. “I wouldn’t have been able to get condoms and birth control and all these things I needed as a normal teenager who was growing up in a Jesus house.”
Lawrence told Glamour that the morning of the November shooting, she received a visit from friend and fellow actress, Amy Schumer, and that the two of them were deeply devastated by the outcome. “When she came over this morning, she was crying. She had just …seen the news about the shooting at Planned Parenthood. It’s so awful. It isn’t an attack on abortions; it’s an attack on women.”
Although Lawrence’s personal history with Planned Parenthood was based on receiving proper access to birth control, she also recognizes the other services the organization provides, citing her frustration with those who don’t recognize the benefits of these actions; “What harm comes from supplying people with birth control, condoms, Pap smears, and cancer screenings?”
Aware that many people may not agree with her stance on the issue, Lawrence also mentions to Glamour that she’s happy to risk the backlash if it means she can stand up for something she believes in, saying, “It’s not smart, business-wise, to be opinionated. But then what’s the point in having a voice at all if I’m not going to use it for what I truly believe in?”
Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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