Chelsea Handler Reveals She Had Two Abortions at Age 16
Image by Getty Images
By Thea Glassman June 30, 2016
Four days before the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that threatened the state’s abortion clinics, Chelsea Handler penned an essay for Playboy explaining just how important Roe v. Wade was for her.
In a piece titled “My Choice,” the 41-year-old comedian revealed she had two abortions at the age of 16. “I was going through a very bad stage in my life,” she wrote. “I hated my parents and I was having unprotected sex with my boyfriend, who was not someone I should’ve been having sex with in the first place, never mind unprotected sex.”
After discovering she was pregnant the first time, Handler recalled that she was initially excited. “I just thought, Why not? I can have a baby. Maybe I’ll have twins and give them rhyming names!”
Her parents had other plans, however, and took her to Planned Parenthood to get an abortion. Afterwards, Hander wrote, she felt “relieved.”
When she got pregnant for a second time, Handler pooled together $230 of her money for a second abortion. “I happened to fuck up twice at the age of 16.” she said. “I’m grateful that I came to my senses and was able to get an abortion legally without risking my health or bankrupting myself or my family.” She added that she never once looks back on her decision.
The comedian went on to write about how “infuriating” it is that politicians were considering overturning a law that has protected women and their rights for the past 40 years. “Like millions of women, I can live my life without an unplanned child born out of an unhealthy relationship because of Roe v. Wade.”
In the end, though, Handler proclaimed that we are “too far ahead of the game” for Roe v. Wade to be put up for discussion.
“It’s a wrap on men deciding what women can do with their bodies,” she said.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
