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Minka Kelly is sharing the story of her abortion, calling it the “smartest decision” she made, afterAlabama legislators signed into law a bill that effectively bans all abortions in the state.
Shejoins the growing list of celebrities— fromMilla JovovichtoBusy Philipps— who are speaking out aboutwhy access to legal abortions is crucial for women.
Kelly, 38, said her abortion saved herself and her boyfriend at the time — and the unborn fetus — from a life of struggle.
“When I was younger I had an abortion,” she wrote on Instagram Thursday morning, along with a photo of the 25 men in Alabama’s Congress who made up the vast majority of votes in favor of the bill. “It was the smartest decision I could’ve made, not only for myself and my boyfriend at the time, but also for this unborn fetus.”
TheFriday Night Lightsstar said the legislation, which Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed into law on Wednesday night after the state’s Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill,ignores what happens to the womencarrying these children.
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Kelly also said that people who favor abortion bansdo nothing to support the mothers and children after they are born.
“If you insist on forcing women to carry to term, why do you refuse to talk about comprehensive sex-ed, the maternal mortality rate, free daycare, paid maternity leave?” she said. “Our lives, traumas and family planning is for no one to decide but us. Certainly not a group of old white men.”
“Speaking of men… With all this punishment for women I wonder where all the punishment is for the men in this scenario,” she added. “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 can’t help but be certain we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.”
Alabama’s bill is a violation of the 14th amendment, which the Supreme Court determined in the landmark Roe v. Wade case. The legislation is intended to turn into a court battle and eventually head back to the Supreme Court, where anti-abortion lawmakers hopethe newly conservative benchwill reverse the Roe v. Wade decision.
source: people.com
