Ariana Grande donates £200,000 to Planned Parenthood following Georgia's abortion ban

The singer has joined a list of stars publicly condemning the new bills

Ariana Grande has made a donation to Planned Parenthood amid a wave of anti-abortion bills in the US.

The “Thank U, Next” singer has donated $250,000 (£200,000) in proceeds from her concert in Atlanta, Georgia, on 8 June to the organisation which fights to protect reproductive rights and access to health care in the US and globally.

The contribution was a reaction by the former Disney star to the passing of the so-called “heartbeat bill”.

Last month, Georgia became the fourth US state this year to make abortion illegal as soon as a heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, the NHS states, before many women even know they are pregnant.

The other states to have passed the bill include Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Ohio.

Elsewhere, Alabama also passed legislation to ban nearly all abortions in nearly all circumstances, including rape and incest.

Dr Leana Wen, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund said that Grande’s donation comes at “a critical time”.

“Anti-women’s health politicians are trying to ban all safe, legal abortion,” Wen told People.

“This is not what the American people want, nor is it something they’ll stand for.

“We are so grateful to Ariana for her longstanding commitment to supporting women’s rights and standing with Planned Parenthood to defend access to reproductive health care. We won’t stop fighting — no matter what.”

Grande is the latest in a string of high-profile individuals who have publicly condemned the new abortion bills being instated in the US, including Rihanna, Lady Gaga and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Last month, Gaga described the new bills as a “travesty” and an “outrage”.

“And all the more heinous that it excludes those have been raped or are experiencing incest non-consensual or not, [sic]” Gaga wrote on Twitter.

“So there’s a higher penalty for doctors who perform these operations than for most rapists?

“This is a travesty and I pray for all these women and young girls who will suffer at the hands of this system.”

You can find out more about which countries have the strictest abortion laws here.