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Busy Phillipps Says Having An Abortion At 15 ‘Really Impacted’ Her

In Busy Phillipps upcoming memoir, “This Will Only Hurt a Little,” she revealed that she had an abortion at the age of 15. She sat down with Access Live on Monday where she opened up about the serious topic in her book.

“The difficulty for me came after when I had to share with people that were close to me some of the things that were going to be revealed in the book, and you know just to give them a heads up, and also just to have the conversations that I hadn’t had,” Phillipps told Access Live, in regards to the difficulties in writing about very emotional and personal events in her life.

According to Refinery29, Phillipps writes after becoming pregnant with her serious boyfriend’s child, his mother became involved. Phillips also writes that she was told it was selfish to have an abortion. “You’re going to murder a baby,” the boyfriend’s mother told Phillipps.  

Phillips said that her parents learned she was pregnant after reading a diary entry. “My mother is who you want in your corner,” she writes, saying she “just supported and loved me.” 

After the procedure, Phillipps had a school trip to the Vatican in Italy. On the day that would have been her due date, she met Pope John Paul II. In her memoir, she writes how the Pope made the sign of the cross and spoke to her in Italian. She interpreted it as a sign of forgiveness. 

In speaking with Access Live on the moment, Phillipps said, “This is something that I went through at a young age and really impacted me and affected how I then moved toward the rest of my life and how driven I was and how having children was a huge priority for me.” Phillipps currently has two children, Birdie and Cricket Silverstein. 

Earlier this month, Phillipps shared an Instagram photo of Christine Blasey Ford and revealed that she was raped at 14 years old— a year before this incident. “It’s important to share these stories because otherwise what’s the point,” she said. 

Busy Phillipps’ book comes out on October 16, and she will go into detail about both of these stories. 

Carissa Dunlap is a Her Campus News X Social Intern for Summer 2018. She is a current Publishing major and Journalism minor at Emerson College (Class of 2020). When she isn't perusing the YA bookshelf at the bookstore, she can be found watching dog videos on Facebook, at her favorite coffee shops, or relaxing on the beach. Follow her on Instagram @dunlapcarissa or Twitter @Caridunlap.