American singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer has released a new music video that showcases a woman going to an abortion appointment and the array of emotions she feels while walking there.
Titled Voicemail For Jill, the music video has been directed by Amber Sealey. As the protagonist walks to the clinic in the video, she’s affected by sights like children running on the street and an abandoned shoe lying on the road. The song’s lyrics detail how abortion is not an occasion to celebrate or commemorate, unlike the birth of a baby, or even a person’s death that brings people together, albeit to cry.
Speaking to Refinery29, Palmer said that she was inspired by the Irish referendum that legalised abortion in 2018. Palmer was visiting Dublin when the near-total ban on abortion in Ireland was repealed. “Trying to write about abortion is one of the most difficult things I’ve tackled, and I’ve been trying since my early twenties, because I had my first abortion when I was 17,” she said.
Abortion continues to be a taboo in many parts of the world, often due to religious beliefs. Pro-life leaders like Donald Trump have publicly given statements such as “all children – born and unborn – are made in the holy image of God”.
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