April Love Geary had an abortion in 2014.
The model – who has two daughters, 15-month-old Mia and two-month-old Lola, with her fiancé Robin Thicke – has been speaking out against restrictive bills that were passed by several state lawmakers in the US that effectively ban abortion.
And after receiving criticism for being a mother whilst also being pro-choice, April has said she supports a woman’s right to make decisions over her own body, as she once went through an abortion herself before becoming a mother.
Posting a picture of her stomach on Instagram, she wrote: "@maya.danielle inspired me to post this since I’ve been getting a bunch of DMs saying things like ‘how could you support abortion when you’re a mother yourself’ so this is MY body, MY body after having an abortion in 2014, a miscarriage in 2017, delivering a baby in 2018 & 2019. I’m glad I was able to make decisions about MY body without facing any type of punishment.
"It’s scary to think that women won’t be able to choose to abort if that’s what they want/what’s necessary. ‘You can be anti abortion for yourself and pro choice for anyone who isn’t you because you realize you shouldn’t get to make the rules for someone else’s body and you’re not going to a single thing for the child they can’t/don’t want to carry. This is possible & necessary’ @imaniorwhatever (sic)"
April joins a host of celebrities who have come forward to speak about their experiences with abortions in the wake of the new legislation, including Ashley Judd, Busy Philipps, Jameela Jamil, and Milla Jovovich.
The new laws see states including Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Utah, and Arkansas pass "heartbeat bills", which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which is the earliest a doctor can detect a heartbeat in the foetus, and well before many women realise they’re pregnant.
Alabama legislators, meanwhile, passed an even stricter bill which effectively bans all abortions at any point in pregnancy.