In a new video by the Center for Reproductive Rights, actress Jemima Kirke, famous for her role on HBO’s “Girls,” opens up about having an abortion in college.
Jemima Kirke Shares Her Story About Ending a PregnancyWatch Jemima Kirke share her story about ending a pregnancy and find out how it encouraged her to stand up for reproductive rights. #MyWordMyHealthTo learn more about Draw the Line, visit: http://drawtheline.org/FB
Posted by Center for Reproductive Rights on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
“My life just was not conducive to raising a healthy, happy child. I just didn’t feel it was fair,” Kirke says in the video, which was published Tuesday on Facebook.
At the time, Kirke was attending the Rhode Island School of Design and, she tweeted Wednesday, dating someone who was “mentally unstable” and “abusive.” Kirke said she and her boyfriend pooled enough cash to go to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Providence, Rhode Island, and terminate her pregnancy.
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Kirke said she has always been open about her decision. “I’ve always felt that reproductive issues should be something that women especially should be able to talk about freely … I still see shame and embarrassment around terminating pregnancy, getting pregnant.”
Today, Kirke, 29, is a happily married mother of two girls and lives in Brooklyn. She said she hopes that there will be less stigma attached to reproductive rights by the time her daughter and step-daughter are older. “I would love if when they’re older, and they’re in their teens or their 20s, that the political issues surrounding their body were not there anymore, that they have one less thing to battle around their bodies.”
HBO’s “Girls,” which Kirke stars in with her friend and the show’s creator Lena Dunham, has not shied away from addressing the issue of abortion.
“Girls” touched on terminating a pregnancy in a recent episode from the just-wrapped fourth season. The topic of abortion comes up very casually in a conversation between character Mimi-Rose, played by Gillian Jacobs, and her boyfriend Adam, played by Adam Driver. Mimi-Rose reveals to Adam that she had an abortion without consulting him, which shocks and frustrates him — leading him to move out of their apartment.
Emily Samsel