Her alter-ego Jessa booked herself in for an abortion in season one of Girls before her very late period arrived, but actress and artist Jemima Kirke actually went through with one.
Girls actress Jemima Kirke, 29, is now a proud mum, but the actress has revealed that in 2007 she ended a pregnancy.
At the time, Kirke was a college student in Rhode Island, and now, eight years later, is using her voice to help banish the stigma associated with abortion.
Kirke is one of very few celebrities to talk openly about abortion and her personal experiences with it, underlining the embarrassment and shame many women feel and the tendency to tiptoe around the issue – or avoid it completely.
Speaking candidly about her decision, Kirke listed the reasons the procedure was necessary for her in a PSA for the US Center for Reproductive Rights campaign called Draw the Line.
“I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be attached to this person [the father] for the rest of my life,” she says. “My life just was not conducive to raising a healthy, happy child. And I just didn’t feel it was fair.”
Highlighting the stigma and embarrassment many women face, the mother of three (Kirke has two children with her husband Michael Mosberg, as well as a step-daughter) says she was unable to discuss the pregnancy with her family and had to pay for the abortion from her own meagre savings.
She couldn’t even afford the anaesthesia so decided to go without.
Related: This is why abortion must be safe, legal and affordable in Australia.
“The anesthesia was only, it wasn’t that much more, but when you’re scrounging for however many hundreds of dollars, it is a lot. I just didn’t have it.”
According to the Guttmacher Institute, three out of 10 women in the US will have had an abortion by the age of 45, and most of these happen when women are in their 20s. Without access to health insurance, or having an insurance policy that doesn’t cover abortion, many of them have to pay for the procedure out of pocket, which can be prohibitively expensive.
Related: “I owe my life to my mother’s abortion.”
Kirke wants things to change before her two daughters come to the age at which abortion may become an issue.
“I’m already anticipating their issues with self-esteem, their issues with their body, the whole luggage that comes with being a woman,” she says. “I would love if when they’re older and they’re in their teens or in their 20s, that the political issues surrounding their body were not there anymore. That they have one less thing to battle around their bodies.”
Other celebrities to share their stories for the Draw the Line campaign include Padma Lakshmi and Mark Ruffalo.
Top Comments
Thank you Jemima Kirke for sharing your story! Your bravery will help abolish the stigma and help us towards a truly 'pro choice' future!
I had an abortion in May 1991. I was 16 years old, (Grade 12) and got pregnant my 'first time', through a broken condom. The 'father' had proven to be a loser, my desire for a child was nil. My ability to care for a child was simply non existent. It was incredibly difficult and painful to go through it alone, but I felt at the time I had no choice. I still remember the date and am reminded every year of what took place that day. It wasn't an easy decision, but for me, it was the right one. It hurt in more ways than one. We have to focus on making abortion legal and safe - They are difficult enough without the fear of lax medical care, stigma and legal punishment.
Good on you for making the right decision for you.
I have to say, all my young clients who have children (multiple in some cases), they have them for the exact reasons they shouldn't be parents - because they can't take care of themselves, can't make good decisions, can't assess or prepare for the future and can't understand consequences.
Yeah true, but not all young mum's are like that, I know a lot of older married women like that with children too, it's not only the young ones.
Oh absolutely! And by the same token there are also young mums/dads who DO understand the gravity of having a child and go on to be wonderful parents. I haven't met any, but don't doubt their existance.
I'm a young mum of twins and I do everything in my power to do the absolute best for my children. Sadly a lot of the young mums I've met have been horrible parents but I've also met older parents who are just as bad or even worse .
Hopefully you will meet an amazing young mum one day ! :D