Ilona Maher is fast becoming the most iconic figure in American Olympic rugby — and not just between the stripes.
With a strong social media following — particularly on TikTok, Maher quickly became a viral sensation based on her entertaining videos and the dominant play of the rugby sevens side that had won bronze after coming from behind to beat Australia.
“I think it’s going to be cool because there is an opportunity to have female representation and to change this country in a way that I think will benefit us,” she told SI. “… That’s a Kamala Harris endorsement.”
For Maher, abortion and contraception rights are “central” to who she is.
“I have enough money that if I didn’t need an abortion, I could raise a baby myself,” she added.
“If I wanted to get abortion, I could do that. So I have that privilege (but) it scares me about the other girls. I have options and I want to remember that, my followers don’t all have that. And so it’s like for me, but also mostly for them.”
The news comes as the nation continues to grapple with questions over abortion rights. Though Harris and other Democrats have criticized the Trump campaign for what they say is an attack on abortion rights, likening his presidency to a looming reign of tyrannical suppression where birth control will be difficult to come by and women will not legally allowed access get abortions all over America, one more promoted demonstration insisted that any future positions on abortion should ever only stay between states.
It is a position the Republican Party has winked at for years, given its most-recent platform in support of states’ rights — as well as Trump underlining that there wouldn’t be any federal abortion ban (which was conspicuously absent from their previous positions).
With Maher’s endorsement she becomes a leading advocate for women’s rights who has fought to ensure that the voices of all are being heard in policy-making decisions.
