Cyndi Lauper revealed her “incredible” late mother, Catrine Lauper, “inspired” her to start an abortion fund.
The 69-year-old hitmaker shared that her mother helped her develop feminist values that led to the new project, which launched Tuesday and, according to People, “will support organizations fighting for abortion rights and reproductive health.” “.
“If you have no control over your own body, how can you be anything but a second-class citizen?” she asked while speaking to the publication about the fund called Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights after her iconic song.
Social activism: Cyndi Lauper revealed her ‘incredible’ late mother, Catrine Lauper, ‘inspired’ her to start an abortion fund
“Now the government is in control of your body – not you. What should be a private medical decision between you and your doctor is now a government decision. So that’s a big issue for me,” she continued.
The singer, who announced Catrine’s death via a social media post in June, shared that seeing her going through a divorce from her father at a young age and struggling through another bad marriage and divorce helped her to instill strong values in her.
“I’ve seen firsthand the inequalities and the dichotomy of what it’s like to be a woman in the world,” she told People, adding that the lesson helped her have a “very low level of BS.” .
The inspiration: The 69-year-old hitmaker shared that Catrine helped her develop feminist values that led to the new project, which will “support organizations fighting for abortion rights”; Pictured in 2012
She added, “She was amazing and I’m just lucky to have had her as my mom because it inspired me to do so many things, including this Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights Fund.”
Lauper announced the fund Tuesday via her Instagram in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to grant Roe v. Wade repeal earlier this year.
The “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” hitmaker rocked a t-shirt with the slogan while sharing the news on her social media.
Response: Lauper announced the fund via her Instagram Tuesday in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade repeal earlier this year
Iconic song: The “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” hitmaker rocked a t-shirt with the slogan while sharing the news on her social media
“I never thought I would see the day when half the population of this country would be stripped of a basic civil right,” she wrote in the caption of her post.
“We have to fight back, which is why I am starting the Girls Just Want Basic Rights fund at the Tides Foundation.
“It is more important than ever that women’s rights organizations and outreach programs that ensure access to safe and legal abortion, reproductive health and prenatal care have the financial resources they need to carry out their lifesaving work .”
Rights: “I never thought I would see the day when a basic civil right is taken away from half the population in this country,” she wrote in the caption, adding, “We must push back.”
Equality: “I believe in the United States and I believe that not only will we regain the right to vote, but one day we will actually secure full equality,” the star said at the end of her statement
“We will do everything in our power to support them, starting with donations from the new ‘Girls Just Want Basic Rights’ t-shirt I’m releasing today. I believe in the United States and I believe that not only will we regain the right to vote, but one day we will actually achieve full equality,” she said at the end of her post.
The singer also spoke about her famous song, released nearly 40 years ago, which inspired the fund’s name and a new wave of feminists. The music video also featured her beloved mother.
The slogan “Girls just want basic rights” first appeared on protest signs at the first women’s march in Washington, DC
There she is: The singer, who announced Catrine’s death via a social media post in June, named the fund after her iconic song “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” which also featured Catrine in the music video
“When most women would say, ‘What are you, a feminist?’ And people would say, ‘Well, I’m really a humanist.’ I would say, ‘Yes, I’m a feminist. I burned my training bra.” Then in 2017 I saw these young girls with these ‘Girls just want basic rights’ signs and I thought, ‘You know what? It was worth it. The little ones, they heard me’, shared them with people.
Alongside the launch of her new project, Lauper is also releasing a lyric video for an acoustic version of her 1993 song “Sally’s Pigeons,” about a teenager who dies of an abortion in a back alley.
“Young people don’t know what it was like. I saw it every day. I knew how many young women were affected,” she said.
Raising Awareness: Aside from funding, Lauper is also releasing a lyric video for an acoustic version of her 1993 song “Sally’s Pigeons,” about a teenager who dies of an abortion in a back alley; Pictured 2008