Viral photos of ‘Oppenheimer’ star’s pro-abortion activism resurface

One of the stars of the hit movie “Oppenheimer” is being applauded on social media for abortion activism, which helped lead to the legalization of abortion in previously pro-life Ireland.

Cillian Murphy, an Irish actor, has frequently collaborated with director Christopher Nolan, and currently stars as the scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Nolan’s latest movie, which is already a box-office success. On the heels of the film’s success, one Twitter user recalled the time Murphy marched for abortion in Ireland.

“Cillian Murphy might be the star of a massive movie atm but to me he will always be the guy that showed up in the rain to our abortion rights marches,” user Ciara87C tweeted, including a picture of Murphy wearing a black hoodie in the rain.

The tweet quickly went viral, receiving hundreds of thousands of likes and nearly 10 million views.

Ireland’s abortion referendum was in 2018, and in an interview before the vote, Murphy pressed for men to opt for legalization.

“Men and women are custodians of this society and we both decide what’s going to happen for our future. I feel that very, very strongly. And I think, you know, that you can be well-intentioned and say ‘look, it should be for women to decide this’, but we need to go out and support women on this,” he said, adding, “That’s the really the thing that has hit home the most because I have a lot of friends that are out canvassing and that are working on behalf of various campaigns and then you hear that from men, they support it, but they’re like ‘we don’t want to get involved.”

Since legalization, abortion in Ireland has skyrocketed, far past original projections.

According to the Department of Health in Ireland, 8,156 abortions were committed in 2022; the year before, in 2021, there were 6,700 abortions committed, making for a 22% jump in just one year. In the years before legalization, the numbers were significantly lower — just 15 in 2017 and 25 in 2016. Additionally, others are already attempting to eliminate the waiting period currently necessary for women who want to abort; government data found that between 2019 and 2021, 3,951 women did not return for a second consultation after their first visit.