ABC Sharna Burgess on 'Dancing With the Stars' season 29
“Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Sharna Burgess is livid about the leaked decision that says the Supreme Court is going to overturn the landmark abortion opinions Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which guarantee federal constitutional protection of abortion rights.
Here is some background on the issue and what Sharna had to say on Instagram:
The ‘Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization’ Opinion
On May 2, Politico obtained a leaked draft of a majority opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. Justice Samuel Alito is the primary author of the draft in which he calls Roe “egregiously wrong.”
He continues, “We hold that Roe and Case must be overruled. … Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. … It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
A source told Politico that the four other justices joining with Alito are Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The source said Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan are writing one or more dissenting opinions, and it is not clear how Chief Justice John Roberts will vote.
This is just a draft, but its authenticity was confirmed by Roberts via a statement released through the Office of Public Information. Roberts also said that the draft “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
Sharna Compared The Decision to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
In a series of Instagram stories, “Dancing With the Stars” pro Sharna Burgess railed against the decision, likening it to “Gilead,” the futuristic version of the United States in Margaret Atwood’s novel (and the Hulu series of the same name) “The Handmaid’s Tale,” in which women have lost their reproductive rights.
“This is harrowing. The fact that they are one step closer to this happening is absolutely harrowing,” writes Sharna. “How about we make it MANDATORY that men at 18 years old get vasectomies??? Why does it have to be women’s rights and bodies and mental health that are being f***ed with and not men’s?”
She goes on to wonder if the government will “increase welfare now to help out those forced to have a child, raise the minimum wage so families can cope with another child, will birth control be free so you can give more women a chance at avoiding being caught with an unwanted pregnancy, make mental health care AND prescription meds completely free and accessible for those women forced to bear a child of rape or simply against their wishes?”
“What about child abuse in the home because a woman or couple who never wanted a kid now have one and take their rage out on it? What about drug abuse? A woman that suffers with addiction, which is a disease, becomes pregnant and has no choice but to carry. That child is born with the very same addiction. Is there a plan to drastically improve the foster system for those that are orphaned? More money being funneled into it?” writes Sharna.
“No? Of course not.”
She then blasts the pro-life movement for having “no consideration for what happens to the LIFE in the ‘pro-life’ movement.”
She then says that women who choose to abort a pregnancy aren’t “having wild unprotected and careless sex” and they aren’t “doing it as a means of careless birth control.”
“They are women or families that cannot afford to bring that life into this world. That cannot or do not wish to give it what it absolutely deserves. Or did not willingly partake in what lead to their pregnancy,” writes Sharna.
“There are so many different versions of [pregnancy] and those people deserve the right to choose.”
She ends by saying that she doesn’t think there should just be unfettered abortions with no restrictions — “there should be parameters and a window of time.”
“But a total ban … unless a mother’s life is in grave danger is just too extreme,” writes the dancer.
The final decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case is expected over the next two months as the Court releases rulings in its still-unresolved caseload.
“Dancing With the Stars” returns for season 31 in the fall of 2022 on Disney Plus.
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