John Prine, Margo Price Team Up to Raise Money to Fight Alabama Abortion Ban
John Prine and Margo Price are joining together to raise money to fight the newly signed Alabama abortion ban. The country icon and the celebrated singer-songwriter have teamed for a new recording of Prine's "Unwed Fathers" to raise money to challenge the new law in court.
Price turned to Twitter on Friday (May 17) to announce that she and Prine recorded a new version of the song on Thursday (May 16). The release date has not yet been determined, but the pair plan to donate the proceeds from the release to the Alabama chapter of the ACLU to help fight the ban, which many have criticized as going too far.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the new abortion ban into law on Wednesday (May 15), and it is slated to go into effect in six months. According to the Associated Press, the Alabama abortion ban is the most restrictive in the country, making performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by harsh sentences that may include life in prison for the provider. The law makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape and incest. The sole exception would be in instances in which the woman’s health is at serious risk.
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"Alabama is stripping away women’s rights and we won’t stand for it," Price writes, adding the hashtags #keepyourlawsoffmybody and #AlabamaAbortionBan.
"Unwed Fathers" originally appeared on Prine's 1984 album Aimless Love. The song paints a scathing portrait of the men who father so many children without suffering the consequences.
"From a teenage lover to an unwed mother / Kept undercover like some bad dream / While unwed fathers they can't be bothered / They run like water through a mountain stream," the lyrics state.
The new duet recording will be released alongside a new rendition of “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” for which Prine will team with a slate of guest performers who have not yet been revealed.
Prine's label, Oh Boy Records, is also selling off a number of rare pieces of numbered and signed vinyl, autographed songbooks and more to raise money for the ACLU.
Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are among the organizations who have vowed to challenge the Alabama abortion ban in court, calling it unconstitutional.
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