The late Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan is known for her haunting voice, but many people do not know that the "Ode to My Family" singer was also a staunch anti-abortion supporter during her lifetime.
O'Riordan, a Catholic mother of three, once spoke against abortion during a 1995 interview with the Rolling Stone. "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," she said.
It wasn't the only time she tackled abortion, according to the L.A. Times. In 2009, she moderated a discussion with high school students after some Cranberries songs were used as the soundtrack of "South Dakota: A Woman's Right to Choose," a film about teen pregnancy.
"Do you think women should have the right to terminate a pregnancy?" O'Riordan asked the teenagers who joined the discussion. "Don't be shy, totally say what you think. It's your life, it's your future."
Some were in favor of abortion, while others were ambivalent. However, a majority of those present were against abortion. One girl from St. Monica Academy even generated cheers from the crowd after she thanked her mother "for having me."
O'Riordan passed away in her hotel room in London at the age of 46, reported BBC. Her publicist said that she was in the city for a studio mixing session with her other music group, D.A.R.K., and she was also scheduled to meet representatives of the BMG record label "to discuss plans for the release of a new Cranberries studio album."
So far, the police have ruled out any suspicious activity in her death.
