#YouKnowMe: Minka Kelly, Amber Tamblyn and More Share Their Abortion Stories Amid Controversial Bills

Minka Kelly
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Busy Philipps started the hashtag to highlight the one in four women that have had an abortion.

Celebrities are coming forward with their personal abortion stories.

As more and more states -- including Georgia, Alabama and Missouri -- continue to pass legislation greatly restricting and nearly banning all abortion, several stars are speaking out against the bills by sharing their own stories alongside the hashtag #YouKnowMe.

Busy Philipps came up with the phrase and hashtag when she discussed her abortion on her late-night show, Busy Tonight

"The statistic is that one in four women will have an abortion before age 45. That statistic sometimes surprises people, and maybe you're sitting there thinking, 'I don't know a woman who would have an abortion,'" Philipps said. "Well, you know me."

She followed up her speech with a tweet encouraging women to write about their own experience with abortion to "share your truth."

The response from celebs was large, with Minka Kelly taking to Instagram to share a lengthy message about her abortion years ago, which she said was "the smartest decision I could've made, not only for myself & my boyfriend at the time, but also for this unborn fetus."

"For a baby to’ve been born to two people -- too young and completely ill equipped -- with no means or help from family, would have resulted in a child born into an unnecessary world of struggle," Kelly wrote alongside a photo collage of some of the white, male politicians who have voted for the bills. "Having a baby at that time would have only perpetuated the cycle of poverty, chaos and dysfunction I was born into."

"Forcing a child to be born to a mother who isn’t ready, isn’t financially stable, was raped, a victim of incest (!!), isn’t doing that theoretical child any favors," she continued. "For those of you insisting abortion is murder, and to Rep. Terri Collins who said 'an unborn baby is a person who deserves love and attention' -- forget bringing up the mother might be in need of some 'love and attention.'" 

"What do you think happens to these kids who end up bouncing around in foster care, live on government assistance because the mother has no help, can’t afford childcare while she works a minimum wage job, and is trapped in a cycle of trying to survive on the meager government assistance so many of you same pro-lifers are determined to also take away," she questioned. "If you insist on forcing women to carry to term, why do you refuse to talk about comprehensive sex-ed, the maternal mortality rate, free daycare, paid maternity leave? Our lives, traumas & family planning is for no one to decide but us. Certainly not a group of old white men."

Kelly concluded her note by questioning whether or not these bills would have come to fruition if men could get pregnant. 

"With all this punishment for women I wonder where all the punishment is for the men in this scenario. By looking at the photo of all the men who are making this mess, I find it hard to believe that if it were the autonomy of a man's body, health and life in question, I can't help but be certain we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place," she wrote. "I appreciate seeing men speak up on this issue - women do not get pregnant alone. Lest we forget, outlawing abortion has never stopped women from attempting it."

Likewise, Amber Tamblyn spoke out about her abortion in 2012, calling it "one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make."

"I still think about it to this day," she tweeted. "But these truths do not make me regret my decision. It was the right choice for me, at that time in my life. I have not a single doubt about this. #YouKnowMe"

Keep reading for more personal stories from celebrities.

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