In an interview this week, award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey slammed Texas' abortion law, S.B. 8, which outlaws abortions in the state after fetal heartbeat detection.
In the interview posted by The Recount on Twitter, McConaughey said the law feels "overly aggressive" and doesn't leave room for a "sensible choice" to be made.
"I believe it's six weeks," McConaughey said to New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin. "[The] law in Texas feels overly aggressive to me. It doesn't seem to open up any room for a sensible choice to be made at the right time."
S.B. 8, which took effect Sept. 1, is currently at the center of two lawsuits at the Supreme Court – Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas. The latter is the Department of Justice's (DOJ) lawsuit against S.B. 8. In addition to prohibiting abortion at around six weeks gestation, the law allows citizens to pursue legal action against anyone providing an illegal abortion or aiding or abetting someone seeking an illegal abortion.
A recent study, published in October, showed that S.B. 8 has cut abortions by half since it took effect.
"I believe in this – more personal responsibility to make the right choices. And we got to take context with every state, with each situation, each person's situation, each woman's situation. You hear about someone who gets raped. That's not a woman's choice," McConaughey added. "It's not a place to say 'oh you need to bring that child into this world.'"
"Abortion is one of those places where we're asked as humans to play God, and that's not necessarily our responsibility and our place," he concluded.
As Landon covered, McConaughey said in the interview that he is against vaccinating his three children against the Wuhan coronavirus, noting that he wants to "find out more information" and that "we go slow on vaccinations anyway."
As far as conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccine, McConaughey said that he does not believe in any kind of "scam" surrounding the vaccine and that people need to "get off that narrative."
Matthew McConaughey says the abortion law in his home state of Texas “feels overly aggressive to me.”
— The Recount (@therecount) November 10, 2021
“Abortion is one of those places where we’re asked as humans to play God, and that’s not necessarily our responsibility and our place.” pic.twitter.com/pA7GnE397a