Politicians should play no role in decisions made between a woman and her doctor, and Busy Philipps testified before Congress about her abortion to drive home the point. In a powerful statement, Philipps shared that she was 15 when she had an abortion in Arizona. Illustrating how abortion laws have become extreme in the state in the years since she underwent the procedure, the actor told Congress: “If I were that same 15-year-old in Arizona today, legally I would have to get parental consent.”
But parental consent is only the beginning. Philipps went on to outline everything else teens and women must endure in Arizona (and many other states) in order to have an abortion. “I would be forced to undergo a medically unnecessary ultrasound, go to a state-mandated in-person counseling session designed solely to shame me into changing my mind and then take a state-mandated 24-hour time-out to make sure I really know what I wanted,” Philipps said. “And finally, I would be forced to give this state a reason why.”
Every single aspect of this is horrifying — and Philipps provided the reason she exercised her right to choose in one succinct, strong sentence: “It is my body, not the state’s.”
“The ‘why’ doesn’t matter. It should not matter,” she continued. “I am a human being that deserves autonomy in this country that calls itself free, and choices that a human being makes about their own bodies should not be legislated by strangers who can’t possibly know or understand each individual’s circumstances or beliefs.”
Philipps consistently uses her platform to promote reproductive rights. She recently promoted the #YouKnowMe campaign on Twitter, which encouraged people everywhere to share their own abortion stories to illustrate why the right to choose is so important and, in some cases, life-saving.
Abortion rights are currently under vicious attack, with so-called “heartbeat bills” being signed into law in Alabama and Georgia that essentially make abortion illegal. Meanwhile, Missouri is at risk of becoming the first state without a single clinic that provides abortions. Bravo to Philipps for using her voice to fight for the millions of people who are at risk of losing their right to choose.
Source: Read Full Article