Minka Kelly speaks out about her abortion for the first time: 'Women do not get pregnant alone'
Among the brave voices sharing their abortion stories for the first time is Minka Kelly.
Since Alabama lawmakers passed a controversial abortion law this week, women of all ages and backgrounds have been speaking out about why they had the medical procedure in an effort to destigmatize abortion. On Thursday, the 38-year-old actress from TV’s Friday Night Lights and Charlie’s Angels rose her hand.
“When I was younger I had an abortion,” began Kelly’s instagram post, which was alongside a photo of the male state senators who passed the bill. She called having an abortion “the smartest decision I could’ve made, not only for myself & my boyfriend at the time, but also for this unborn fetus.”
Kelly wrote that she and her partner were “too young and completely ill-equipped — with no means or help from family” to raise a baby. Having it “would have only perpetuated the cycle of poverty, chaos and dysfunction I was born into.” (Kelly’s father is former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay, but she was raised by her late mother, Maureen Kelly, an exotic dancer, after her parents split. It wasn’t a conventional upbringing.)
Kelly wrote that forcing women to have babies when they aren’t ready or became pregnant as a result of a crime (rape, incest) “isn’t doing that theoretical child any favors.” She talked about the children stuck in the foster care system, never finding forever homes or moms on government assistance unable to shoulder the cost of raising a child.
Kelly also called out the lawmakers responsible. “Our lives, traumas & family planning is for no one to decide but us,” Kelly wrote. “Certainly not a group of old white men.”
She continued, “Speaking of men... With all this punishment for women I wonder where all the punishment is for the men in this scenario. By looking at the photo of all the men who are making this mess, I find it hard to believe that if it were the autonomy of a man's body, health and life in question, I cant help but be certain we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.”
Though, she noted, “I appreciate seeing men speak up on this issue - women do not get pregnant alone.”
Her post ended by saying, “Lest we forget, outlawing abortion has never stopped women from attempting it.”
Kelly was applauded for her honesty by her followers, including her best friend Mandy Moore, who told her she loves her, and many others such as Sophia Bush, January Jones and Lena Waithe.
In the wake of Alabama passing the law — and Georgia right before that — celebrities have been using their platforms to raise awareness. for reproductive rights. Busy Philipps, who had an abortion as a teen, started the “You Know Me” hashtag to get women to share their personal abortion stories.
Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi has been using the hashtag “Him Too” to ask men to come forward and acknowledge abortions their partners had.
Actresses Jameela Jamil and Milla Jovovich also publicly revealed for the first time that they have had abortions.
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