Zara Larsson is standing by a joke she recently made about abortion after sparking debate on social media.

Last week, the Stateside singer commented on a TikTok from a fan who shared a video of the Swedish star performing live alongside the message: “I didn’t know I was pregnant here but at least my baby got to hear midnight sun before I aborted it.”

“I killed the performance and then you killed it after the performance,” Zara replied. “Purrrrrr.”

Over the following days, Zara received a mixed response to this comment, which she addressed in a TikTok of her own on Thursday night, doubling down on the joke.

“Sorry, that’s funny!” she began. “Like, I don’t know what to say. That’s funny. Sorry if you don’t have humour.”

The Grammy nominee said: “I’m not really here to argue with the people who are very against abortions for whatever reason, because we’re so fundamentally different in the way we view the world, at least on this topic. So I’m not here trying to convince you guys that abortion is healthcare or whatever.

“I actually want to have a little one-on-one with the people who [are pro-choice]. I saw a lot of comments that were like, ‘this is not something to joke about, I am so pro-choice, I am as pro-choice as the next person, but abortion is a very serious topic’. And I just want to know why that is.

“Why do you feel like abortion is only OK when it’s a very hard decision, when it’s something that women have to struggle with going through, when it’s emotionally or physically painful? Why does that make it morally superior than someone just wanting an abortion for whatever reason? Why is it only morally OK when women have to suffer? Now, riddle me that… why can’t it just be OK for a woman to want to have an abortion?

“And then yes, I do agree, I feel like we should prevent it – we should teach sexual education to children, we should make sure that if we don’t want babies that we have birth control and access to free condoms… because people love sex. Sorry, let’s face it. People want to fuck. That’s just human nature. But also, that doesn’t mean that you have to have a baby because of it.

“So, if you are in this, ‘I’m pro-choice if the woman’s been raped, if the woman’s been’… no! Baby, if you are pro-choice, you have to be pro-choice always.”

Zara continued: “I feel like joking about stuff like that, which is a ‘serious topic’, it also makes it something that we can just talk about. It doesn’t have to be taboo. It doesn’t have to be this bad thing that women do.

“Because also, if we speak about it in a casual manner, that also makes the women who go through it, and who are actually suffering through it [feel less stigmatised]. Because, of course, there are women that want their babies but they can’t keep them […] I’ve seen so many cases about this, like, in Texas, where women want their children, and they have to do abortions because they will not live outside of the womb, and they can’t have it, because of the fucking policies around it.

“So, let’s just make more jokes. Abortion is healthcare, what can I say? And it’s not better because women have to suffer.”

Throughout her time in the spotlight, Zara has always been outspoken about social and political causes that are close to her heart.

Earlier this year, she shared an impassioned post condemning the actions of ICE agents in the US, saying: “I love immigrants, I love criminals, I love trans people, I love abortions, I love queers, I love slutty women, I love contraception, I love welfare, I love socialism, I fucking hate ICE.”

A decade on from her mainstream breakthrough, Zara has been enjoying a new wave of commercial success in the last few months.

Shortly after the release of her Midnight Sun album, her 2016 single Lush Life began re-climbing the charts after going viral on TikTok, while her remix of PinkPantheress’ Stateside was recently revealed to be the number one song on the global Spotify chart.