
Speaking at the 10th Women in the World Summit in New York City, actress and activist, Ashley Judd has spoken about getting an abortion after a past sexual assault resulted in conception.
This was the first time the 50-year-old, #metoo and #timesup advocate has publicly spoken about her own abortion, despite being a fervent campaigner for women’s legal and safe access to the procedure.
“As everyone knows, and I’m very open about it, I’m a three-time rape survivor,” she said.
“One of the times that I was raped there was conception.
“And I’m very thankful I was able to access safe and legal abortion. Because the rapist, who is a Kentuckian, as am I, and I reside in Tennessee, has paternity rights in Kentucky and Tennessee. I would’ve had to co-parent with my rapist.
Women share their experiences of abortions before they were legal:
Judd shared her personal abortion experience in light of the recent “heartbeat bill” which currently being debated by politicians in Georgia, US.
The current state laws allow abortions up to the 20th week of pregnancy but the new bill calls to ban women from the procedure once a heartbeat is detected, which is roughly at the sixth week.
Judd also joins Alyssa Milano and over 100 other celebrities who have signed a petition which states they will withhold filming in Georgia if the bill is passed. According to The Atlanta Business Chronicle, Georgia’s film industry had a $9.5 billion economic impact in 2017, with The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, The Hunger Games and The Vampire Diaries just some of the films and TV shows that were filmed in Georgia.
I will be supporting the women of Georgia as we stand in solidarity for all women’s rights and hand deliver the below letter to Brian Kemp at 5pm EST this evening. I will broadcast live here on Twitter. #WeWontGoBack pic.twitter.com/gcZqlrW2kB
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 2, 2019