Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan’s sudden death on Monday continues to stun fans and fellow musicians, alike.
And while many across the globe reminisce about O’Riordan’s music, some attention has also turned to the performer’s past comments about abortion, among other topics.
Pro-life outlets have noted that O’Riordan, a mother of three, once passionately spoke out against the procedure during a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone.
The singer said at the time that abortion is “not good for women to go through” and that it “belittles” them. She also said that it “crushes” a woman’s self-esteem. Here’s what Rolling Stone reported more than 20 years ago:
Not that the freewheeling possibilities of a rock lifestyle have totally swayed O’Riordan from her conservative Irish Catholic roots. Although she deems Madonna “clever,” she marvels at the quick-to-strip pop icon for not possessing the moral fortitude “that obviously would stop her from doing all those crazy things that she does in her videos.” And don’t count on O’Riordan as an ally in defending abortion: “I’m in no position to judge other women, you know? But, I mean, ‘Idiot — why didn’t you not get pregnant?’ It’s not good for women to go through the procedure and have something living sucked out of your bodies. It belittles women — even though some women say, ‘Oh, I don’t mind to have one.’ Every time a woman has an abortion, it just crushes her self-esteem, smaller and smaller and smaller.”
And this wasn’t O’Riordan’s only interaction with the issue at hand. She moderated a discussion with high school students back in 2009 after some of the Cranberries’ songs were used on the soundtrack of “South Dakota: A Woman’s Right to Choose,” a film about teen pregnancy. She wasn’t as forthcoming as her Rolling Stone interview, but her involvement in the film is notable.
“Do you think women should have the right to terminate a pregnancy?” O’Riordan asked teens during a townhall meeting, The Los Angeles Times reported at the time. “Don’t be shy, totally say what you think. It’s your life, it’s your future.”
O’Riordan was a lifelong Catholic. It is unclear if her abortion views in 2018 were reminiscent of those she shared in 1995, though those earlier comments were fervent and unrelenting and have understandably been given new attention in recent days.