Karlie Kloss: The Right to Choose Shouldn’t Be a Privilege
Karlie Kloss always supported abortion rights as a concept in the abstract. But after having two children in three years amid the fall of Roe v. Wade, her belief in the woman’s right to choose felt even more personal, and her desire to do something felt urgent.
“I’m so grateful to have had healthy pregnancies and have had access to the care that I needed, but that shouldn’t be a privilege,” the 32-year-old model and activist tells me over Zoom. “The ability to choose as a woman when you’re ready to go down that journey, to me—I think it’s the most profound and pivotal choice in my life.”
It’s a sentiment that I’ve heard many Millennial mothers express since the Supreme Court stripped us of our right to choose two years ago. It can be dizzying that such an enormous loss has occurred smack dab in the middle of our reproductive years, and it’s a feeling Kloss shares, especially when she thinks of the women in her home state of Missouri.
Growing up as one of four daughters of an emergency room physician, Kloss says her family discussions on abortion were never politically charged or fraught. Now, Missouri has one of the most restrictive laws in the country, banning abortion in all cases with extremely limited exceptions. Kloss described the law as “devastating.”
“I’ve cared about this for a long time, but Roe was a real turning point for me, and I think for many others, of realizing there’s so much more that we need to do,” she says.
Her latest action has required her to put on a new title: executive producer. Along with fellow activist Phoebe Gates, Kloss has partnered with MTV Staying Alive Foundation to create Everybody’s Fight: An In Bloom Series. The series—which features five episodes comprising three documentaries and two scripted films about reproductive rights—are launching Tuesday on MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s In Bloom YouTube channel.
Each video runs less than 20 minutes and is meant to be easily digestible and watched on social media primarily, though they will be available on Paramount Plus in early 2025. This was done intentionally, says Wame Jallow, the foundation’s executive director, to appeal to a younger audience.
