Singer Anita Aysola released a pro-abortion song with the Women’s March-inspired Resistance Revival Chorus on Monday. The song was written in response to Georgia’s heartbeat bill, which bans abortion after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected (at about 6 weeks), but is tied up in the courts.
The song is actually titled “Heartbeat” and its frequent refrain “Can you hear our heartbeat?” practically mocks the mass slaughter wrought by Roe v. Wade. You know whose heartbeats you can’t hear anymore? Those of the more than 60 million babies aborted since that decision came down in 1973.
An Atlanta-based blues/jazz artist born in India, Aysola told Rolling Stone India, “Right now in the United States, many of us are in a constant state of shock and dismay at the atrocities being committed at the hands of our government. While this song was inspired by current attacks on reproductive rights, it is also, more broadly, meant to reaffirm the basic human rights of women everywhere.” Killing other humans in the womb is not a human right, it is a shocking atrocity.
Of course, Ms. Magazine heralded the song as an “anthem for abortion activists” and said of the music video, “The visual statement acknowledges the despair of the current moment—and the urgency of activism as a form of optimism.”
Song lyrics range from dramatic imagery, “Liberty is weeping,” to electoral rallying cry, “We’re gonna take all your seats now.” But the chorus is a bit problematic: “We are the women of the world, we give life to this earth.” That transphobic line denies the intersectional gospel that men can get pregnant, too!
The music video, which features brief images of the Women’s March, begins with the written words, “In 2019, a ‘heartbeat bill’ was signed, banning nearly all abortions in the state of Georgia. This song is a tribute to the heartbeats of women.” But not the heartbeats of the unborn women this legislation is meant to save, of course.
Women marching
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Daughters watching
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Mothers rising
Can you hear our heartbeat?
You’re gonna reap what you sow now.
Can you hear our heartbeat, our heartbeat?
Take your pleasure
But can you hear our heartbeat?
Before you measure
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Liberty is weeping
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Oh, the whirlwind is coming
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Chorus:
Our pleasure, pain, our worth, our fates are for us to decide
Our hearts are strong and lives are long and our voices will rise
We are the women of the world
We give life to this earth
We are the women of the world
We give life to this earth
Water’s rising
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Tide is turning
Can you hear our heartbeat?
We’re nipping at your heels
Can you hear our heartbeat?
We’re gonna take all your seats now
Can you hear our heartbeat?
Aysola played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday evening and Rolling Stone India reported she also has another song coming out soon titled “Rumpelstiltskin” that “draws from the child separation issues at the U.S. southern border.” Can’t wait!
