Halsey Said Abortion Saved Their Life After Multiple Miscarriages
"I will hold my son in one arm, and fight with all my might with the other."
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has inspired many influential voices to speak up about the importance of abortion and reproductive rights. After the June 24 ruling, many celebrities were furious over the SCOTUS decision and took to social media to share their thoughts. Most recently, Halsey revealed abortion saved their life after three miscarriages in a powerful essay, and also shared they will continue to fight for every person’s right to choose.
Halsey — who uses both she and they pronouns — welcomed their first child, Ender, in July 2021 with their boyfriend, Alev Aydin. While the “Without Me” singer admitted “it was a beautiful labor,” she had struggled with pregnancy before. “I miscarried three times before my 24th birthday,” Halsey shared in a July 1 essay for Vogue. “It seemed a cruel irony that I could get pregnant with ease but struggled to maintain a pregnancy.” This is an issue that many people struggle with, but it’s so personal and heartbreaking that it’s rarely shared on such a public platform. However, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has incited many Americans to speak up about their personal stories on miscarriages and abortion to show how common and life-saving the procedure actually is.
In fact, Halsey revealed in their essay, “One of my miscarriages required ‘aftercare,’ a gentle way of saying that I would need an abortion, because my body could not terminate the pregnancy completely on its own and I would risk going into sepsis without medical intervention.” While they felt “helpless” during the procedure, Halsey wrote, “I was desperate to end the pregnancy that was threatening my life.”
Thankfully, Halsey was able to have the abortion that saved her life and it allowed her to successfully give birth to Ender, who turns one later this July. At the time, though, Halsey wasn’t sure if their pregnancy with Ender would be a success and ended up rewriting their will in the third trimester. “After my past experiences, I was prepared for the worst,” the singer shared. After detailing what to do if things went wrong, including donating her organs, Halsey wrote, “How funny that while my own heart would amount to nothing more than a series of involuntary movements on an operating table, a beating heart in my womb could mean I couldn’t consent to saving my own life.”
It’s this consent that Halsey will continue to fight for along with millions of other Americans. The singer made sure to clarify that giving birth to Ender hasn’t changed her stance on abortion. “In fact, I have never felt more strongly about it,” Halsey admitted. “My abortion saved my life and gave way for my son to have his.” Now that the Supreme Court’s decision has given the authority back to each individual state to determine a person’s right to abortion, it’s going to be difficult for many Americans to have safe and legal access to the procedure that saved Halsey’s life.
Many have taken to the streets to protest the overturning, while others have chosen to speak up online and donate to various abortion funds. Halsey has said in their essay that they will not back down as well: “I will hold my son in one arm, and fight with all my might with the other.”
