Ani DiFranco joined the numerous artists against the abortion ban with a live video for Play God. Featuring DiFrancos daughter Petah, the performance took place last September at Babefest in Brooklyn.
In the beginning of the clip, the phrase Reproductive freedom is a civil rights issue is scrawled across the screen. DiFranco then starts to play the fervent Binary track, singing: I was done at 16/Showing up for class/I was out there in the ring/Learning how to kick some ass. Petah joins in for the chorus: You dont get to play God, man, I do alongside her mother. Several pro-choice organizations to donate towards are listed at the end.
Reproductive freedom must be understood and protected as a civil (or even human) right, without which women cannot be free or achieve equality within society, DiFranco told Rolling Stone in a statement. Religious leaders can try to convince women that they should not have abortions but they cannot force all women to subscribe to their patriarchal religious creed. It is not the job of government to enforce religious creeds, but it is the job of government to protect the civil rights of its citizens. Any court worth its salt should find these new abortion bans unconstitutional.
DiFranco just released her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, accompanied by a No Walls Mixtape. Ive been through the wringer so many times, and this is definitely a new level of oversharing that Im sure will bring new levels of criticism and opinion my way, she recently told Rolling Stone. And Im definitely terrified.
DiFranco is currently on tour, performing throughout the summer with a stop included at Woodstocks Levon Helm Studios on June 16th. Shell wrap up at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival on August 16th.