British Actress Emma Thompson slammed America over the recent spate of abortion laws being enacted, saying the new restrictions are dragging the United States back to the “dark ages.”
Emma Thompson went on the attack during an interview conducted by ET Canada to promote her new comedy, Late Night. Co-star Mindy Kaling also piled on during the interview.
The London-born actress told ET Canada that the new law in Alabama is “really tragic” and sends the state back to the “18th century.” The law bans abortion except in the case where the life of the mother is in danger and places penalties against doctors who perform abortions.
“The Alabama decision is, I mean, tragic, really tragic,” Thompson said. “Men take that state back into, really, the sort of 18th century. That’s like going back to a very dark age, indeed.”
“I feel very much sympathy for women who have no wherewithal to be able to get out of there,” she added.
The Academy Award-winner asked her co-star how she feels about the law noting that Kaling “actually lives in America.”
“I thought it was well said,” Kaling replied of Thompson’s answer. But Thompson pressed her co-star on the issue, anyway.
“We live in such a scary time to be a woman,” Kaling exclaimed. “I was born after the Roe v Wade decision, so I took it as just a right.”
“It is a peculiar and a frightening thing to think that you can go backwards in terms of your rights and you can have your rights stripped away from you,” Kaling continued. “So, of course it’s startling and frightening.”
Kaling added that the Alabama law only affects poor women because “people of means” can go to another state for an abortion.
Thompson concluded by attacking pro-life women adding that it is “very disappointing to see women” supporting restrictions on abortion. Alabama abortion bill was sponsored by state Rep. Terri Collins (R) and signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) earlier this month.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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