Before it was signed into law, Cynthia Nixon took to social media to speak out against President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” In particular, the Sex and the City star focused on how the bill would affect reproductive health care. To do so, she sported a controversial MAGA-inspired red hat — one that said “Make Abortion Great Again” instead.
Cynthia shared her thoughts on ‘Trump’s big ugly bill.’
On July 2, Cynthia took to Instagram to express her support for Planned Parenthood. In her post, she noted that while she believes abortion is health care, Planned Parenthood offers so many other important health care services as well.
“In addition to kicking 17 million Americans off their healthcare, Trump’s big ugly bill will strip critical funding to @plannedparenthood for non-abortion-related medical care,” she captioned her post. “(And of course abortion is healthcare too!) Call 202-224-3121 and tell your representatives to vote NO on this horrifying bill.”
What really stood out to many people, however, was the hat featured in Cynthia’s post.
In the main photo, Cynthia sported a red hat.
While the “Make Abortion Great Again” cap Cynthia wore in the photo was clearly MAGA-inspired, many critics slammed the actress for using that particular slogan. Of course, some of the critics were anti-abortion and found the post “sickening” and “evil” for that reason.
But a significant amount of the criticism also came from people who said they identify as pro-choice.
To those critics, the hat came across as insensitive because having an abortion can be a difficult and traumatic experience for some people — which is why they took issue with abortion being described as “great.”
“Even someone who is pro-choice understands that abortion is a hard decision and is never ‘great,'” one critic wrote. “This is in poor taste and speaks volumes about this actress.”
Another person added that though they identify as pro-choice, they find the hat “absolutely repulsive and disgraceful.”
Some wondered what Cynthia was hoping to achieve by sharing a photo of the controversial hat. “I am as pro-choice as it gets but this is crass,” a third critic commented. “This downplays an issue that is not a tagline. You’re reducing life changing medical care to a soundbite. You will be why so many on the right won’t be moved — they think we are all like you when we are much more nuanced while still fiercely protecting a woman’s right to choose and to be safe.”
A fourth person, who identified themselves as pro-choice, described abortion as “a traumatic decision” that can leave “an emotional scar.” “How about ‘Make Birth Control Great Again,'” they suggested. “You have seriously lost the plot Cynthia.”
But others defended the actress.
While the post sparked a lot of backlash, some fans accused critics of missing Cynthia’s point. “For all the ‘omg this is sickening’ people, it’s meant to make a statement,” one person wrote in Cynthia’s defense. “She not literally saying abortion is GREAT, it’s about the women’s right to choose, bodily autonomy and reinstating Roe V Wade. Unclench your pearls and take several seats.”
Another person wrote: “The message is clear: abortions save women’s (lives). Even if you don’t like them. People in the comments have heard NOTHING about the case of Adriana Smith and how her body was used, despite the fact that her relatives were against the exploitation. But of course, the life of the fetus is more important than the life of the woman. Or the decision of her relatives.”
