Cher Details First of Three Miscarriages at Age 18

In the tweet, the mother of two shared the experience of her first miscarriage when she was just 18, alone in her home. She continued that her ex-husband, Sonny Bono, whom she married officially in 1969 and divorced in 1975, arrived to witness her “sobbing” and “rocking” on the floor. When she got to a doctor, she described “screaming in pain” before being rushed to an operating room. Concluding the tweet, Cher questioned whether a doctor would be willing to pursue the same immediate treatment today, under new abortion bans.

Though Cher has spoken about having multiple miscarriages before, including to Parade in 2010, her latest tweet reflects concern following the striking down of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision guaranteeing abortion rights. Because miscarriage management can require the fetus to be removed, in states that are already moving to ban abortion, doctors are left in a legal grey area for these life-saving procedures, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

In replies to her tweet, Cher went on to defend this reality, writing that if republicans can use the Senate and Congress to successfully ban abortions, “WOMEN WILL BLEED OUT, & DIE, WHILE SOME GROUP OF OLD WHITE REPUBLICAN ‘MEN’ DECIDE WHAT MEDICAL TREATMENT U DESERVE.” In another reply, Cher wrote, “RED STATES R FORCING WOMEN TO B NEAR DEATH, BEFORE THEY GET ANY TREATMENT.”

An hour later, in response to a Tweet describing that a woman in Missouri was unable to leave her husband because of a law preventing divorce while pregnant, Cher was in disbelief at the operations of some red states. She wrote, “WOMEN ARE SUFFERING & WILL EITHER BLEED OUT, WHILE DRS LOOK ON, OR BE SENT HOME TILL THEIR COMPLICATIONS ARE BRINGING THEM CLOSE TO [death]”

Before she shared the story of her miscarriages, Cher had been vocal about her pro-choice stance since Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24. That day, she tweeted, “TODAY, TRUMP'S RADICAL (REPUBLICAN) SUPREME COURT, BECAME RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN WOMEN.” Referencing the potential for the Supreme Court to strike down other rights as well, she added, “BE AFRAID BE VERY AFRAID!!”

She followed up in another tweet reacting to the news, writing, “I COULDN’T CONTAIN MY ANGER. Still angry, sad, afraid 4 WOMEN...” She then brought up her 1996 movie, If These Walls Could Talk, which follows the journeys of three women obtaining abortions, separated by 22 years (1952, 1974 and 1996). Researching abortion as a director and star of the film, alongside co-stars Demi Moore and Sissy Spacek, Cher said that she “Studied,Talked 2 Family’s Of Dr.s, & Nurses Killed, Women Who Were Beaten, & clinics Bombed.”

Within a slew of tweets between the initial news of Roe v. Wade’s overturning and now, Cher has been outspoken about her fears of republican government control, urging women in particular to vote them out. Though her latest tweet is simply “Later” followed by a sunglasses emoji, Cher will likely be back soon to continue her Twitter advocacy in favor of abortion rights.

Photo via Getty/ Anthony Barboza