Billie Eilish slams abortion laws during Texas concert: ‘I almost didn’t want to do the show’

Eilish raised her middle finger in the air and yelled ‘My body, my f***ing choice’

Billie Eilish performs onstage during Austin City Limits Festival 2021 (Getty Images)

Billie Eilish hit out against Texas abortion laws during her performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival over the weekend.

The 19-year-old singer criticised the state’s law that bans abortions when foetal cardiac activity is detected – long before many women are even aware that they’re pregnant.

The legislation is one of the most stringent abortion laws in the US, which went into effect on 1 September 2021.

“I’m sick and tired of old men,” Eilish said on stage on Saturday (2 October), adding that she was on the brink of cancelling her performance due to the “s***” law in the state.

“When they made that s*** a law, I almost didn’t want to do the show, because I wanted to punish this f***ing place for allowing that to happen here,” the singer said before raising her middle finger in the air and reportedly yelling: “My body, my f***ing choice.”

This isn’t the first time Eilish is speaking out against this law.

Last month, the “Happier Than Ever” singer wrote on Instagram Stories that she really wished that men “cared more” about reproductive rights.

“Makes me sick how many men say nothing when it comes to women’s rights,” she wrote in addition to reposting an image reading: “If you and your ‘homies’ or bros’ aren’t talking about the abortion laws in Texas, chances are you’re part of a problem.”

Eilish voiced her frustrations on Instagram (Billie Eilish/Instagram)

The implementation of the abortion law prohibits providers from performing an abortion if they can detect foetal heart tones, something the ban describes as “cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the foetal heart within the gestational sac”.

Read everything you need to know about the Texas abortion law here.