The actor Busy Philipps condemned Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, signed into law yesterday, on her talk show Busy Tonight by revealing the story of her own abortion at age 15.
“I had an abortion when I was 15 years old, and I’m telling you this because I am genuinely really scared for women and girls all over this country,” she said, her voice full of emotion. “And I think that we all need to be talking more and sharing our stories more.”
Philipps was responding to the legislation, signed by Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, on Tuesday, which would ban abortion at the detection of fetal cardiac activity – as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. Similar bans – often referred to as “heartbeat bills”, a term many gynecologists have called medically inaccurate – have been passed in Mississippi, Ohio and Kentucky this year, and are being considered in several other states.
The state laws directly challenge a woman’s right to an abortion as established by the 1973 supreme court decision in Roe v Wade, and are expected to be struck down by the courts.
Philipps joined a growing chorus of female celebrities, including the actor Jemima Kirke and comedian Chelsea Handler, who have spoken publicly about their abortions to de-stigmatize the decision. “No bill that criminalizes abortion will stop anyone from making this incredibly personal choice, but these laws will put more women at risk,” Philipps said. “Every woman deserves compassion and care, not judgment and interference when it comes to their own bodies.”
According to Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research center, one in four American women will have an abortion before age 45 – a statistic Philipps referenced on her show. That number sometimes surprises people, she said: “Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, ‘I don’t know a woman who would have an abortion.’ Well, you know me.”
