"At least I can sleep at night": Why Busy Philipps speaks out about abortion

Coming forward about her abortion was an easy decision for Busy Philipps, who shared with “Busy Tonight” viewers in 2019 that she had gotten the procedure when she was 15. As an actor and talk show host, Philipps was known for her roles in “Cougar Town” and “Freaks and Geeks,” but at the time, she said she wasn’t worried about broaching the politicized subject.

“I was thinking about all of the women who were being affected by these extreme abortion bans that had started to be passed across the country who didn't have the luxury that I have, the luxury of privilege, of money, of access,” she said about her decision to speak up. Philipps talked about her abortion publicly on the same day Governor Brian Kemp signed a six-week abortion ban in Georgia in May 2019. By the end of that year, 25 new laws challenging abortion rights were passed, and today, 14 states have abortion bans while 43 have bans after a certain point in pregnancy.

In the years and Supreme Court nominations and harmful extremist rhetoric that have followed, Philipps has not stopped advocating for reproductive rights. On Wednesday, she announced that she is the American Civil Liberties Union’s newest Artist Ambassador for Reproductive Freedom. She talked to Salon about the role of artists in a battle often fought in state legislatures and the courts, her message to those needing an abortion in a state with restrictions — and also, her role in the new “Mean Girls” film.

This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Congratulations on your new role with the ACLU. I know you're a longtime supporter of theirs. What does the ACLU mean to you? 

The ACLU has been there, historically speaking, standing up for all of our civil liberties and making sure that people are represented and that their voices are heard and that we're protected. For a period of time, a lot of Americans really took our rights for granted, but they've been at the forefront of – especially the work that I've done in the last several years now – dealing with abortion rights and bodily autonomy throughout the country, and then, certainly after Dobbs was overturned, that was cranked up on the state level. We've seen that when the issue of abortion is put on the ballot, Americans overwhelmingly turn out to vote for bodily autonomy, for choice, for abortion, which is vital healthcare for so many.

We're seeing just the fallout now, and we will continue to in places like Texas, and it's devastating. My work with the ACLU is so important to me, and one of the things that I think is part of having a platform, is that I'm able to be in contact with so many women across this country who are like-minded. Caissie St. Onge, who I do my podcast with, we both have heard from people who listen to us that they're overwhelmed, that they don't know what to do. And one thing that I personally have always turned to the ACLU for is information and actionable items. I think that they're so incredibly adept at being able to help point us, as concerned Americans, in the right direction, whether it's voting rights or whether it's showing up for abortion being on the ballot or making your voice heard about care for trans youth. It can feel really overwhelming, and the ACLU is able to distill it into actionable items, and it really helps me to feel less overwhelmed.

You're an Artist Ambassador for them, joining a long line of other great artists and activists. As you were talking about, these days, the courts and state legislatures are where so much of the battle for reproductive rights goes down. Can you speak to the importance of artists speaking out on this issue as well?

Historically speaking, and I think that it's true today, the stories that we tell are the way that you change people's hearts and minds. For the first time on such a major platform, a major stage, when I spoke about my own experience having an abortion when I was a teenager on my late night talk show, that was really the first time that I saw firsthand the impact that my being vocal about that issue in particular impacted so many, and not just the people that watched my talk show and were fans of mine, but women across, honestly, the world. The impact that artists are able to have is not to be underestimated. I think the impetus is put on us as artists to remember that and to remember to stay informed so that we can have an impact in the ways that we want to.

Even just storytelling, like the movies that we watch, the TV shows. You think about “Maude” from the '70s, or “Archie Bunker,” or “Scandal,” Olivia Pope dealing with abortion on that show. There are ways to tell these stories and bring issues to the forefront of storytelling without it seeming preachy or hitting people over the head with it. The truth is, sometimes things are conflicting for people, and I think it is in part the job of artists to help all of us make sense of it. And by it, I mean all of it.

You started to talk about telling your own story. Talking about things like abortion or other politicized issues as a public figure isn't always well received, and it's something that a lot of people in the public eye shy away from. I'm wondering what made you feel like you needed to speak up then, and how being outspoken since has changed you?

The truth of the matter is that at the time, I was closely examining my own privilege as a white woman living in this country. I was reconciling my own ability, if I had wanted to, to stay silent. I was thinking about all of the women who were being affected by these extreme abortion bans that had started to be passed across the country who didn't have the luxury that I have. The luxury of privilege, of money, of access. Honestly, I just realized that I have no choice. Isn't that interesting? There was no choice for me. I needed to talk about my choice to have an abortion.

I also was at a place too where I was like, “Look, if all of this goes away because of it, first of all, that I didn't want it to begin with.” Secondly, then at least I can raise my kids and sleep at night. So that was what motivated me.

In acknowledging my privilege, I also acknowledge that not everyone has the luxury of feeling comfortable speaking out. Even people in the public eye, for whatever reason. There are lots of reasons why people don't, and I'm not a person who ever is bemoaning someone else's decision to not wade into any number of issues if they're feeling, for whatever reason, uncomfortable. Just for me, it isn't an option.

Since you started speaking up about this, has your understanding of abortion and reproductive rights changed at all? Are there any misconceptions that you had about abortion that you'd like to set the record straight about?

I've learned so many things, and there's so much good information out there that ACLU provides such great information. The Guttmacher Institute provides incredible information. But at the end of the day, I think it is so vital that people finally really understand that a lot of the messaging that has been perpetrated by these extremist politicians over the last 20 years is incorrect. It's incorrect what a 13-week fetus looks like according to these politicians. Quite frankly, the states that have passed these laws have left hospitals and caregivers confused and rightfully concerned about their own safety and have put doctors, nurses and caregivers in just unimaginable positions. It's unconscionable what's happened.

I have learned that you have to listen to what these extremist people are saying because they have made good on all of it. They're saying now that they're going for birth control next, and I'm going to tell you they're going to go for birth control next, so all of us should be concerned. All of these issues are intersecting, whether it's gerrymandering and voting rights and trying to strip people of voting rights or deny access to polling places or strip people off of ballots, or it's denying healthcare professionals the ability to make the right decisions for their patients in terms of transgender youth and gender-affirming care for them. Or whether it's denying abortion care, whether it's very wanted babies with horrific fetal abnormalities or putting the mother's life at risk, or simply a person who is not prepared or cannot have a child in that moment. We need to all be really paying attention and as active as we can be.

What's your message to people who are making the decision to get an abortion in an extremely hostile climate for them to get one?

We're not in the pre-Roe world in the '50s. We're not in that world anymore. Abortion is accessible even if you live in one of these places, and there are lots of resources online and there are abortion funds that can help with travel, and you deserve and are able to get the care that you need.

While it may be scary, and it has obviously been designed to be difficult in this moment for people in many of these places, it doesn't need to be dangerous. It doesn't need to be impossible. There are tons of organizations, both grassroots and larger organizations that are doing everything they can to help and those resources are there.

Switching gears a little bit, you have another very exciting thing going on right now. You’re Mrs. George in “Mean Girls.” What was it like taking on this iconic role for Amy Poehler?

It is such an iconic role, and Amy is literally the greatest. It was a little nerve-racking, but truthfully, I was so thrilled. I've worked with Tina Fey and her husband, Jeff Richmond and Eric Gurian, who's their producing partner for many, many years now, so when Tina called and asked me to be Mrs. George, I knew that I would be very well protected by them. Tina said, "Amy's so excited about this and thinks that you're going to be so fantastic as Mrs. George."

For us, it was a just a question of trying to figure out who Mrs. George is in 2024. Who that woman is, who that mom, who thinks that she's her daughter's best friend, what she looks like, what she wears, how she acts. I feel like we really nailed it, I got to say.

I know from the trailer that “this is not your mother's 'Mean Girls,'” it's updated for Gen Z, and you're a parent to Gen Z Kids. How did that help you put your spin on Ms. George?

I have one Gen Alpha, and then Birdie's Gen Z. It was certainly helpful. I have in-house research, and especially with my teenager, with my 15-year-old. It also was super informing in terms of the character of Mrs. George because I'm around a lot of different types of moms and I have definitely met a few moms that have a little bit of Mrs. George tendencies in my time as a mom. I think the movie really nails it in so many ways, and I mean, in all the ways. But I also just was a big fan of the musical on Broadway, so I was thrilled that they were going to be making the musical version of “Mean Girls” because I just think it's so fantastic.

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To you, what does it mean to be a “cool mom”?

Oh, well, no mom is cool. Just FYI. To your children, you should never be cool. If your children really think you're cool, you're doing something wrong. Because to me, you're not there to be your kid's best friend. You're there to be their parent and to help them and guide them and be supportive of them, but not to share all the secrets and talk about your own life in the same way that you allow them to talk about their life. They need to be their own autonomous people.

My kids do not think I'm cool. I just want to say for the record, although Birdie was like, "I see that you've been saying in all these interviews that we don't think you're cool. You're making us sound mean." And I'm like, "No, no, no. It's not that. I'm just saying that you guys don't, I'm not cool to you." And she's like, "Well, no, you're not." But it's not a bad thing to be not cool to your kids. It means that I'm doing at least something a little right.

I've had this conversation as well; I'm not a regular mom, that's for sure. My career is wild because of what I do. My kids have had the opportunity to meet Olivia Rodrigo. It gives with both hands, I guess, being in the spotlight, at times they get sort of overwhelmed, and I understand that because they have to share me with a lot of people, and people online have their own thoughts and feelings about me. But also, then they get to meet Olivia Rodrigo.

I love that. You're not a regular mom or a cool mom. It's a new take on Poehler's famous line.

Me personally, I am not. I'm something else. I don't know exactly what that is, but I am something else.