Alabama pastors wear ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ costumes on TikTok to decry Texas abortion law
Two Alabama pastors clad in costumes that mimic characters from “The Handmaid’s Tale” blasted an abortion law in Texas using TikTok.
The 28-second clip posted on the church’s social media platforms Sept. 2 shows the women in red dresses and white hoods, which they they throw off in protest at the end of the video.
“Texas is leading us to become more and more like Gilead every day,” text overlaying the video reads. “Unjust, patriarchal laws strip women of their agency and rights. As people of faith, we believe in reproductive rights.”
The women are pastors at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, which advertises as “an open place for all.”
Senior Pastor Stephanie Arnold, who appeared in the video alongside Executive Pastor Katie Gilbert, told WIAT “there were four or five women in the room” when they decided to voice their opposition to the Texas law, which bans abortions once doctors can detect a heartbeat — usually around six weeks and often before a woman knows she is pregnant.
The law has been nicknamed the “heartbeat bill,” but experts say the term is inaccurate because the heart is not developed at six weeks and what doctors are hearing is actually electrical pulses, The Texas Tribune reported.
Two of First United Methodist Church’s three senior pastors are women, as are about 60% of the church staff, WIAT reported.
“I would hope nobody would ever find themselves in need of an abortion,” Arnold said, according to the TV station. “But that is not the world we live in. And I will listen to the pain and the struggle and the hopes of those women. And I will prioritize that.”
Their video has been viewed more than 7,000 times on the church’s TikTok page. A subsequent video seemingly addressing the backlash has over 16,000 views.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in the 1980s and is now a popular TV series. The show depicts a future in which a group of religious fanatics assume control of the government after fertility rates collapse and women who can still conceive are enslaved by the ruling class.
First United Methodist is not the first to draw parallels between the show and Texas.
Women wore costumes from “The Handmaid’s Tale” on the Texas Senate floor in 2017 to protest a similar measure barring second-trimester abortions. A year later, a group of women known as the Texas Handmaids donned the same attire in front of the state Capitol to protest for women’s rights.
Now, as the new legislation in Texas takes effect, a slew of comparisons with “The Handmaid’s Tale” have spread on social media.
“Before this country turns into a real version of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ let’s all get together and stop what’s going on in Texas,” Rosie O’Donnell said in a TikTok video. “Keep abortions safe and legal.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Alabama pastors wear ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ costumes on TikTok to decry Texas abortion law."
