Yahoo Movies Bette Midler Says Women Are Being 'Stripped' of Rights After Roe Reversal: 'Don't Let Them Erase You'
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Bette Midler is getting vocal about the "erasure" of women — and stirring up controversy.
On Sunday, the 76-year-old actress expressed her anger on Twitter that women are being stripped of their rights and their "name."
"WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don't call us 'women' anymore; they call us 'birthing people' or 'menstruators', and even 'people with vaginas'! Don't let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!," she wrote.
While some fans believed that Midler's tweet was meant to criticize the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade and subsequent state abortion bans, other followers of the actress argued it was an anti-trans comment.
Bette Midler Twitter Bette Midler tweet
In response to the tweet, which has been liked more than 92,000 times, author Roxane Gay wrote, "No one is trying to erase women with inclusive language about people who need abortion care. No one is calling you anything but what you prefer. You should extend that courtesy in return."
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Another comment came from Crystal, who appeared on RuPaul Drag Race UK Season: "The fight for women's rights INCLUDES trans people - trans rights do not erode women's rights. We're all fighting this together and this trans-exclusionary rhetoric does NOTHING to help that."
Crystal continued, "Bette - you are a woman. Some other people who give birth are not women. That's ok!"
A rep for Midler didn't immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Midler's statement comes in the wake of numerous efforts from politicians across the country to restrict access to healthcare for transgender youth. Earlier this year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed that parents of transgender kids who undergo gender-affirming surgeries be investigated for "child abuse."
In June, it was reported that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration were working to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and those on Medicaid.
In a letter to the Florida Board of Medicine, the governing body that oversees medical professionals, Florida's Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo claims that gender-affirming care like puberty blockers, hormone therapies and gender-reassignment surgeries are "politics-based medicine" and children who receive them "face a substantial risk of long-term harm." Ladapo's statements echo the guidance his agency, the Florida Department of Health, issued in April which advised against care for trans youth.
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Florida's guidance goes against the recommendations from the Biden administration and major medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association, which have said that gender-affirming medical care is a medically-necessary service for transgender kids.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says gender-affirming care is "crucial to overall health and well-being" of transgender youth. Florida would join Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee and Texas in banning care for transgender patients using Medicaid.
