With abortion laws across the United States becoming more restrictive by the day, women who’ve experienced having an abortion are speaking out. One of these women is a Hollywood star who rarely gets political — but feels it’s her duty in light of recent events.
Alabama’s virtually banned abortion.
Despite Roe v. Wade , Alabama recently pushed a bill to make virtually all abortions, even those where pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, illegal. It’s a bill that will disproportionately affect poor women and women of color.
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Milla Jovovich entered the fray.
Whether you know her as a model or an actress, the Ukrainian-born Jovovich has been a top earner in Hollywood since her 1997 breakout role in The Fifth Element .
She recently shared a harrowing story.
Jovovich described, in heartbreaking detail, her experience with getting an abortion in a recent Instagram post . While her experience didn’t happen in the U.S., it was enough to give her empathy for anyone who has to go through the process.
She slammed the new laws.
She called out Georgia’s move to ban all abortions after six weeks, noting that this threshold is before most women know that they’re pregnant.
This bill, unlike Alabama’s, does make allowances for cases or rape or incest, but only within the first 20 weeks and only if a police report was filed.
It isn’t just Georgia and Alabama.
“This makes Georgia the sixth state to pass such a restrictive six-week abortion ban, joining Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa, and North Dakota,” wrote Jovovich, “Those laws haven’t been passed yet, but lawmakers in these states are trying.”
Commenters shared their thoughts.
Women’s rights is traditionally a good indicator of overall human rights in a given area. When the country that sees itself as the freest in the world cracks down on women’s rights, it isn’t a good look.
Deciding to abort is an agonizing decision.
“Abortion is hard enough for women on an emotional level without having to go through it in potentially unsafe and unsanitary conditions,” she wrote.
Jovovich then went on to share her story.
She had to do it while shooting a movie.
Jovovich said she was four and a half months pregnant, shooting on location in Eastern Europe, when she went into pre-term labor and was forced to abort. It sounds horrifying.
It was unexpected.
“I went into pre term labor and told that I had to be awake for the whole procedure,” said Jovovich, “It was one of the most horrific experiences I have ever gone through. I still have nightmares about it.”
There’s something important to remember.
Only women can get pregnant and only women can give birth, so it would make sense for only women to be able to make the decision to abort. Unfortunately, the result of these laws is to make women legally liable for abortion, or to make doctors too fearful of their livelihoods to perform them.
Hers is an important story.
“When I think about the fact that women might have to face abortions in even worse conditions than I did because of new laws, my stomach turns,” she said.
She got lots of support.
It’s a divisive political issue and her post attracted tons of responses. It’ll probably have 200,000 likes within a few days.
Commenters had a variety of opinions, but most were respectful.
It’s always good to listen to others’ stories.
The Alabama bill was notoriously passed entirely by male lawmakers. Throughout these proceedings, what would seem to be the most important aspect — women’s voices — always seems to be forgotten.
Abortion is rough on women.
It’s rough, and these new laws make it even worse. “Abortion is a nightmare at its best. No woman wants to go through that. But we have to fight to make sure our rights are preserved to obtain a safe one if we need to,” she wrote.
Let’s listen to women.
Most opinions on abortion fall to one side or the other, but whatever your thoughts, it’s valuable to learn from others’ experiences — so if a woman wants to share her abortion story, why not listen?
