Kerry Washington is sharing her truth.
In her new memoir, Thicker Than Water, the Scandal star opens up for the first time about many experiences in her life, including decision to get an abortion when she was in her 20s. And in addition to detailing her abortion in the book, released Sept. 26, reflected on why she’s waited twenty years to talk publicly about it.
“In my late 20s, I made the difficult and very private decision to have an abortion,” Kerry wrote for Time magazine, alongside an excerpt from her memoir. “About a decade later, I played a character that was the first woman to be shown undergoing an abortion procedure on network television. As women, it is our right to choose what happens to our bodies, our lives, and our futures. It is also up to us to decide when, how, and with whom we share our stories.”
The 46-year-old continued, “In real life I never talked about my own abortion publicly. My shame and embarrassment inspired a private silence that hid my personal truth and made me complicit in a culture of secrecy that shames women, our bodies, our choices, and our power.”