Earlier this year, Conor Oberst reunited his long-dormant band Bright Eyes, and they released the strong new album Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was a couple of months ago. Today, Bright Eyes have come out with a new song for an important reason. “Miracle Of Life,” the group’s new single, is a protest song about abortion rights, which are already nonexistent in much of this country and which look like they could be in a whole lot of danger in the entire country. Bright Eyes have released the song as a benefit for Planned Parenthood.

All three members of the core Bright Eyes trio — Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nathaniel Walcott — play on “Miracle Of Life,” and they’re joined by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and Mars Volta/Queens Of The Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore, both of whom play on the new Bright Eyes album. Phoebe Bridgers, Oberst’s frequent collaborator and Better Oblivion Community Center bandmate, sing backup.

Musically, the song is a warm, easy lope. Lyrically, it’s a whole lot darker. Oberst sings a grim, tragic story about a young woman who has an unwanted pregnancy and no easy access to abortion: “Lay down on the hard cold ground/ Crying’s such a soothing sound/ Get cured with a coat hanger/ Girl you’re in America now.” Listen below.

In a press release, Conor Oberst says:

This song should not exist in 2020 America. It is a protest song, I guess. Or maybe just a little story about what was, what still is in many parts of the world and what could be again here in this country if the GOP is successful in reshaping the Supreme Court and rolling back all of the hard fought progress made for reproductive rights in the last 50 years. Hopefully, if we all work together and vote, it will make this song sound as irrelevant and outdated as it should.

Right now, “Miracle Of Life” is a Bandcamp exclusive. You can buy it here, and all proceeds go to Planned Parenthood. The song will be available on all the streaming services 10/28.