Kerry Washington Opens Up About Learning To 'Forgive' Herself After Her Abortion
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Kerry Washington is giving herself some grace on the March 18 episode of Call Her Daddy — and it’s a topic that many women might relate to.
In her 2023 memoir, Thicker Than Water, she revealed that she had an abortion in her early 20s just after starring in the 2001 hit film, Save the Last Dance. Now, she’s sharing with host Alex Cooper what she would tell her younger self ahead of undergoing the procedure — and her answer was quite emotional.
“It took me a long time to forgive myself, not for having the abortion,” Washington explained. “I really knew that was the right choice for me, but it took a long time to forgive myself for getting pregnant. And I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about what was going on for me mentally and emotionally that I allowed that to happen.”
The Scandal star “figured out how to stand up” for herself and maintain “boundaries,” while being “more honest” with future partners.
In a September 2023 essay for Time, Washington was firm in her belief that “as women, it is our right to choose what happens to our bodies, our lives, and our futures.” She also discussed that her “shame and embarrassment inspired a private silence” and made her “complicit in a culture of secrecy that shames women, our bodies, our choices, and our power.”
It was the reason why she came forward because she questioned herself for years over deciding in the moment to have unprotected sex.
“Why hadn’t I protected myself?” She wrote in her memoir. “Why hadn’t I had the courage to create boundaries around my womb? Why had I silenced my preferences in the name of people-pleasing?”
Washington continued, “This all could have been avoided. If I had spoken up for myself in the moment, I wouldn’t have found myself in that office.”
She realized that so much of women’s “reproductive journey is cloaked in secrecy and shadows—silences that compound, making us feel more alone.” It’s why Washington refuses to hide that side of herself any longer.
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