"It is ridiculous to me that it's still a question in 2019 whether women can have an abortion," Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova told AFP ahead of the performance.
"We want to come to Alabama and support women who are in quite a critical and vulnerable position right now," she said.
"Many Americans, they believe that Russia is a patriarchal country -- it's true in a lot of ways, but when it comes to abortion rights, it's not questionable.".
The Soviet Union in 1920 became the first state in the world to legalize abortion, though it was banned under Joseph Stalin for nearly two decades starting in 1936.
"The feminist movement today is so strong that it will be able to overcome these obstacles," the Moscow-based activist said.
"Those white, male dudes who are voting against abortion rights, they're part of the history.
She became a young mother 11 years ago, an experience that gave her "more conviction" in her feminism. »
