Alabama lawmakers have approved a bill banning virtually all abortions, including for women impregnated via rape or incest, making the act a felony at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions. The bill now heads to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to sign.
In the wake of Alabama legislators giving final approval to a ban on nearly all abortions, and Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signing legislation banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, several stars have started to speak out publicly decrying those decisions, some revealing their own deeply personal experiences with abortion.
Rihanna and Minka Kelly are the latest stars to speak out.
Kelly posted a lengthy post on Instagram revealing she had an abortion at a younger age, calling it " the smartest decision I could’ve made, not only for myself & my boyfriend at the time, but also for this unborn fetus."
Kelly added, "For a baby to’ve been born to two people — too young and completely ill equipped — with no means or help from family, would have resulted in a child born into an unnecessary world of struggle. Having a baby at that time would have only perpetuated the cycle of poverty, chaos and dysfunction I was born into. Forcing a child to be born to a mother who isn’t ready, isn’t financially stable, was raped, a victim of incest (!!), isn’t doing that theoretical child any favors."
On Wednesday Lada Gaga tweeted to her 78 million followers.
Actress Milla Jovovich shared her story on Instagram.
"The Good Place" star Jameela Jamil took to Twitter to share her own experience.
Busy Philipps Gets Real About Abortion
When the social media site's users began to shame Jamil, she turned to Instagram to respond. "I DON'T GIVE A FLYING F--- WHAT YOU THINK OF MY DECISION," she captioned the image, which was a screen grab of her first tweet. "MY DECISION. MY BODY. MY CHOICE."
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Jamil is not the first celeb to open up about the topic. In April, actress and activist Ashley Judd used her voice to defend a woman's right to choose.
"As everyone knows, and I'm very open about it, I'm a three-time rape survivor," she said at Tina Brown's 10th annual Women in the World Summit. "And one of the times I was raped, there was conception, and I'm very thankful I was able to access safe and legal abortion. Because that rapist, who is a Kentucky-ian, as am I, and I reside in Tennessee, has paternity rights in Kentucky and Tennessee. I would have had to co-parent with a rapist."
"Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi tweeted Wednesday urging men to not let women carry the burden alone of challenging opposition to abortion rights.
And talk show host Busy Phillips first opened up about having an abortion in her memoir. Phillips addressed her experience again on her talk show after Kemp signed the new Georgia law.
