Actress Uma Thurman wrote she has “no regrets” for having an abortion as a teen, that terminating the life of her unborn baby allowed her “to grow up” and achieve a “life full of joy and love.” Now, pro-life leaders are calling her out, saying it sends a twisted message to call abortion an act of “courage.”
In an op-ed Monday at the Washington Post, Uma Thurman recounted the story of an abortion she had in her “late teens” in an attempt to condemn the Texas Heartbeat Act, which went into effect September 1 and prohibits abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
The measure also contains a unique enforcement mechanism whereby any private citizen may file a civil lawsuit against an abortion provider or any other individual who “aids or abets” a “criminal abortion.” Abortionists and those who “aid or abet” an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected must pay damages of at least $10,000 for each abortion performed or assisted if they lose in court.
The Kill Bill star, now 51, detailed that she began her acting career at age 15 and was “living out of a suitcase in Europe.”
“In my late teens, I was accidentally impregnated by a much older man,” she wrote, when she was about to begin an acting job. “I struggled to figure out what to do. I wanted to keep the baby, but how?”
The actress, who also worked as a spokesmodel for Lancôme cosmetics, continued her story she described as one that contains “so much pain”:
I telephoned home. My mother was gravely ill in the hospital. My father went to her bedside to discuss my options. We had never spoken about sex before; this was the first time, and it was terrible for all of us. They asked me about the status of my relationship — it was not viable — and warned me how difficult it would be to raise a baby as a teen on my own. My childish fantasy of motherhood was soundly corrected as I weighed answers to their very precise questions. I was just starting out in my career and didn’t have the means to provide a stable home, even for myself. We decided as a family that I couldn’t go through with the pregnancy, and agreed that termination was the right choice. My heart was broken nonetheless.
After revealing what she described as her “darkest secret until now,” Thurman wrote she has now raised three children, her “pride and joy.”
“I conceived my beautiful, magical children with men whom I loved and trusted enough to dare to bring a child into this world,” she said, adding:
I have no regrets for the path I have traveled. I applaud and support women who make a different choice. The abortion I had as a teenager was the hardest decision of my life, one that caused me anguish then and that saddens me even now, but it was the path to the life full of joy and love that I have experienced. Choosing not to keep that early pregnancy allowed me to grow up and become the mother I wanted and needed to be.
In a message to “women and girls of Texas, afraid of being traumatized and hounded by predatory bounty hunters; to all women outraged by having our bodies’ rights taken by the state; and to all of you who are made vulnerable and subjected to shame because you have a uterus,” Thurman concluded by saying, “I see you. Have courage. You are beautiful. You remind me of my daughters.”
Pro-life women, however, raised questions about Thurman’s story in comments to Breitbart News.
Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood manager-turned pro-life activist, said what struck her most about the actress’s abortion story was “the pain she was in, not only at the time of the abortion, but for years afterwards.”
Johnson, who now heads And Then There Were None, an organization that actively assists people as they leave their jobs in the abortion industry, said, “She seems to have never healed from that choice to exterminate the life of her child and, deep down, knows that it took away something incredibly special.”
“She’s not alone in those feelings – millions of both women and men suffer some kind of hurt following an abortion decision,” Johnson explained.
Ashley McGuire, senior fellow with The Catholic Association, especially tuned into Thurman’s description of having been “accidentally impregnated by a much older man.”
“Usually when a ‘much older man’ ‘accidentally impregnates’ a minor we call it ‘statutory rape,’” McGuire observed. “Thurman’s story both helps to normalize statutory rape and provides glossy Hollywood cover for men that use and abuse women for sex because they have abortion as an out.”
“In no way does this empower women,” she asserted. “Rather it empowers their abusers.”
Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, spoke to the common narrative repeated by the abortion industry, its allies, and by Thurman in her op-ed, that abortion is necessary to further women’s careers.
“Is Uma Thurman really bragging about sacrificing her unborn child on the altar of her career?” Nance asked. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Millions of women around the world have proven that it is a lie that one must choose between motherhood and success. One of those women currently sits on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“Thurman may have no regrets, but sadly we hear from women from all over the country daily who deeply regret their abortions,” Nance continued. “The pro-life movement includes women who deeply wish they could turn back the hands of time to save their unborn child and channel that into volunteer work caring for other women in thousands of pregnancy care centers around the country.”
“If Thurman truly has not one regret, she’s in the minority,” the pro-life leader asserted.
Johnson also noted in Thurman’s story what pro-life activists say is a twisted message: that having an abortion is an act of “courage.”
“The message she now wants to send women is not one of courage, as she states,” Johnson explained. “It is one that has been echoed by Hollywood actresses at award shows, in opinion pieces, and on social media: that women cannot have the life they want if they let children get in the way.”
She added from her own experience of having once worked in the abortion industry and now helping others to sever their ties with it:
While the abortion industry has sunk its claws into Hollywood with the lie of empowering women through abortion, it has been through the testimonies and witnesses of women who have had abortions and those who worked at abortion clinics that show women that empowerment is choosing the life of your child. It’s possible to have a baby and finish your education or have an amazing career. I have eight children and travel the world speaking about what I saw during my time at Planned Parenthood and how the redemptive grace of God saved me and showed me what true femininity looks like.
“There are innumerable women who have had children unexpectedly and pursued their dreams,” Johnson said. “Women don’t need abortion.”
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