Alyssa Milano Reveals She Had 2 Abortions In 1 Year: 'It Was Absolutely The Right Choice'

“My reasons for having an abortion are real. They surround me every day,” the actress said.
LOADINGERROR LOADING

Actress Alyssa Milano opened up this week about having two abortions in 1993 when her career was just kicking off.

“I knew at that time, I was not equipped to be a mother, and so I chose to have an abortion,” the actress said in a Tuesday episode of her podcast “Sorry Not Sorry.” “I chose. It was my choice. And it was absolutely the right choice for me.”

Milano said she became pregnant twice, within months of one another, in her early 20s right as her career was taking off, although she was taking the birth control pill.

“They tell you the pill is 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancies and yet, a few months later I found out I was pregnant again,” she continued. “So, I had done what I knew to do to prevent pregnancy and was still pregnant. So, once again I made the right decision to end that pregnancy.”

“It was not an easy choice. It was not something I wanted, but it was something that I needed, like most health care is,” she added.

Milano, known best for her work on TV show “Charmed,” has become an outspoken advocate for women since the Me Too movement took off in 2017. Since then, she has repeatedly pushed for gender equality in politics, reproductive health and more.

Although she knew her decision to get her abortions was the right choice, it was still “devastating,” Milano said in the podcast.

“I was raised Catholic and was suddenly put in conflict with my faith,” she continued. “A faith I was coming to realize empowered only men to make every single decision about what was allowed and what was not allowed.”

Milano’s podcast discussion comes in the wake of several states passing abortion bans or extreme restrictions. States including Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Missouri have all banned abortion as early as the first trimester.

Alabama passed the most extreme of the new laws in May, banning all abortions from the time a person is “known to be pregnant” and providing no exceptions for rape or incest. Also in May, Georgia passed a “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion around six weeks ― a time when many women do not know they’re pregnant.

This recent “assault against women’s bodies,” Milano said, has forced her to reflect on what she would’ve lost if she had not had those two abortions.

“I would not have my children ― my beautiful, perfect, loving, kind and inquisitive children who have a mother who was so very, very ready for them,” she said. “I would not have my career. I would not have the ability or platform I use to fight against oppression with all my heart. I would never have met my amazing husband, David, whose steadfast and immeasurable love for me sustains me through these terrifying times.”

Most of all, Milano added, she would not have the freedom to be herself and make the choices she did that got her to where she is today.

“My reasons for having an abortion are real,” she said. “They surround me every day.”

Listen to Milano’s full podcast.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot