Girls Star Jemima Kirke Opens Up About Having an Abortion

After emptying her checking account to pay for her abortion in 2007, Girls star Jemima Kirke couldn't afford anesthesia, so she had one without it. "It's these obstacles and it's this stigma that makes these things not completely unavailable, and that's the tricky part, it's that we think . . . we do have free choice and we are able to do whatever we want with them, [but] there are these little hoops we have to jump through to get them."

The actress and artist spoke in a PSA for Draw the Line about her personal experience making the difficult decision to end her pregnancy, in hopes of shedding light on the importance of reproductive rights. She chose to get an abortion when she was in college, saying that her life at the time was "not conducive to raising a healthy, happy child," adding that "it just wasn't fair [to the child]."

The video emphasizes the need for reproductive rights, discusses the politics surrounding women's bodies, and displays just some of the obstacles women face in order to make their own choices. Now a mother of two, Jemima hopes that when her own daughters grow up, they won't have to face the same battles women today do.