- Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, speaks about the importance of reproductive freedom
- She teamed up with model Karlie Kloss as an executive producer Everyone’s Struggle: A Series in Bloom, which deals with issues of reproductive healthcare and the right to abortion
- She encourages young women to exercise their power and vote on November 5th
After Dobbs Cancel the decision of the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade 2022 Phoebe Gates recalls an immediate and overwhelming feeling of anger.
The 22-year-old daughter of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates says it’s “ridiculous” that she is being denied access to abortion and all reproductive freedom, which will affect young women like her more than anyone else.
At the time, Gates was with her mother, who told her, “Okay, stay mad. That’s great. What are you going to do about it?”
Following in her philanthropist mother’s footsteps, the young activist teamed up with model Karlie Kloss to executive produce Everyone’s Struggle: A Blooming Series, in collaboration with the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.
The series provides an in-depth look at the impact of restrictions on reproductive freedom, highlighting the stories of people seeking reproductive health care, frontline workers, and abortion rights advocates.
“I think that choice is the fundamental freedom on which all other freedoms are built,” she tells PEOPLE. “Our generation of women is now less free than those before us. How could I ever accept that? I won’t and I know I’m in good company.”
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“One thing has been frustrating since Dobbs the decision is that there is surprisingly little talk for young women about the issues that affect us most. So for me this storytelling initiative is deeply personal and I hope it shows that this is everyone’s struggle,” she continues. “There are 41 million Gen Z’ers eligible to vote in this election. And like the women in these movies, we have to make decisions – especially in a few days, on November 5.”
Gates admits that with her platform and privilege, she felt a responsibility to speak out.
The recent college graduate has donated millions of dollars to abortion rights groups and frequently used her social media platform to support reproductive freedom. Meanwhile, Kloss worked as an escort for Planned Parenthood patients and founded the Gateway Coalition, a collective that funds reproductive health care clinics in the Midwest.
“How you use your voice and your privilege is really, really important,” Gates says, noting that it’s one of the shared values that catalyzed her friendship with Kloss.
Phoebe Gates and Karlie Kloss.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Astrid Stawiarz/Getty
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The 32-year-old model and mother of two agrees that working with Gates was just an extension of the advocacy they did individually. She wants to “create a sense of empathy and understanding of why this is important to all of us.”
“Here in America, I never thought that access to care would be something that we would have to protect. And here we are,” Kloss tells PEOPLE.
“We wanted to tell stories that people who might not be living this experience might not understand what it’s like to be in the shoes of someone seeking care or someone trying to fight to keep the lights on at the clinic,” she explains. “And the role it plays in providing access to care not just to thousands of people locally, but to people coming from across the region to access care at that location.”
Gates adds that he hopes Everyone struggles and her and Kloss’s advocacy not only encourages others to better understand the importance of reproductive freedom, but to realize that it is possible to make a difference.
“They can actually make a change and take action. I can go out and vote. They can support state ballot measures. I can get involved in these organizations that we’re talking about,” she tells PEOPLE. “While this is a huge problem, there are tangible changes they can make.”
Everybody’s Fight: An In Bloom Series — which includes 3 documentaries and 2 narrative shorts — is out now on YouTube.
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Source: HIS Education