'My darkest secret': Uma Thurman recounts teen abortion trauma while criticizing Texas abortion law

Uma Thurman is sharing her thoughts about the Texas abortion law in a moving op-ed.

In response to the legislation banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy in Texas, the "Kill Bill" actress shared her own abortion story as a scared and unprepared teenager in a deeply personal Washington Post essay Tuesday.

"I started my acting career at 15, working in an environment where I was often the only kid in the room," Thurman wrote. "In my late teens, I was accidentally impregnated by a much older man. I was living out of a suitcase in Europe, far from my family, and about to start a job. I struggled to figure out what to do."

She detailed her trauma and panic that came with an unintended pregnancy, which included the "terrible" conversation she had to have with her parents, with whom she "had never spoken about sex before."

"This was the first time, and it was terrible for all of us," Thurman recalled. "They asked me about the status of my relationship — it was not viable — and warned me how difficult it would be to raise a baby as a teen on my own."

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Though she initially hoped to keep the baby, she said her parents allowed her to understand her naiveté and rationalize her "childish fantasy" of motherhood.

"I was just starting out in my career and didn’t have the means to provide a stable home, even for myself. We decided as a family that I couldn’t go through with the pregnancy, and agreed that termination was the right choice. My heart was broken nonetheless."

During her abortion procedure in Germany, Thurman remembered "it hurt terribly," but she didn't complain at the time due to her internalized shame, believing "I deserved the pain."

"There is so much pain in this story. It has been my darkest secret until now."

Initially feeling silenced by the shame, Thurman, now 51, said she is now proud of her decision, which has allowed her to live an "extraordinary" life with her three children, Maya, 23, Levon Roan, 19, and Luna, 9, whom she described as her "pride and joy."

"The abortion I had as a teenager was the hardest decision of my life, one that caused me anguish then and that saddens me even now, but it was the path to the life full of joy and love that I have experienced," she wrote. "Choosing not to keep that early pregnancy allowed me to grow up and become the mother I wanted and needed to be."

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In opening up about her decision, Thurman hopes her own story will inspire women in Texas "who might feel a shame that they can't protect themselves from."

"This law is yet another discriminatory tool against those who are economically disadvantaged, and often, indeed, against their partners. Women and children of wealthy families retain all the choices in the world, and face little risk."

The actress also condemned an unusual measure of the Texas law, which offers a $10,000 or more bounty for suing anyone — from a supportive parent to doctor — who helps to perform or procure an abortion at six weeks gestation or later.

"I am grief-stricken, as well, that the law pits citizen against citizen, creating new vigilantes who will prey on these disadvantaged women, denying them the choice not to have children they are not equipped to care for, or extinguishing their hopes for the future family they might choose," she added.

Thurman concluded her essay with a hopeful message to those in Texas who are "afraid of being traumatized and hounded by predatory bounty hunters."

"To all women outraged by having our bodies’ rights taken by the state; and to all of you who are made vulnerable and subjected to shame because you have a uterus — I say: I see you. Have courage. You are beautiful. You remind me of my daughters."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Uma Thurman condemns Texas abortion law, shares teen abortion trauma