Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, Ireland Baldwin has revealed that she was sexually assaulted in her teens, and recalled a different experience, years later, where she had an abortion.
The 26-year-old model opened up about her experiences in a video posted to her TikTok on Sunday, where she said that she was sharing her story in order to make other women feel “supported and loved”.
She went on to explain that she “completely unconcious” when she was raped and that it changed her life completely, as she didn’t tell anyone when it happened.
“It changed the course of the rest of my life,” she said. “I never told anyone at the time, not for years. The only person who knew was a nurse that treated me shortly after, and I didn’t even tell my boyfriend at the time. Not my parents. No one.”
Baldwin, who is the daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, said that she kept her experience a secret for “so long” that it caused a lot of “hurt and pain” to herself and loved ones, and ultimately caused her to “spiral”.
“I harboured so much pain and so much guilt for so long, and I spiralled,” she continued. “I lost control of my life. I drank a lot more. I partied a lot more. I self-medicated. I was in other abusive and toxic relationships and friendships. I pretty much did everything I could to distract myself.”
According to the Dark Foe star, as she has seen “brave women share their stories,” she began to think about what would have happened if she had gotten pregnant following the sexual assault.
While she acknowledged that she had more “resources” than other women do, she said that it would have been “traumatising” for her to raise a child at the time.
“Mind you, I have medical resources, money and support that a lot of women do not have access to. It would have simply been traumatising and impossible,” she added.
Baldwin then went on to share another experience, later in life, when she became pregnant with her then-boyfriend’s baby. She said that they were “very unhappy” and that he did not want a family.
“At that point in time, I would say we were very unhappy together,” she explained. “And he made it pretty clear that he never wanted kids, or marriage. He barely wanted to be in a serious relationship.”
With that in mind, she acknowledged that the best decision was to get an abortion. According to Baldwin, she didn’t want her child to experience what she had, as she said she knew what it was like to be born to parents that “hated each other”.
“I chose to get an abortion because I know exactly what it felt like to be born between two people who hated each other,” she said.
Alec and Basinger married in 1993 and announced their separation in 2001. Following their split, they underwent a four-year custody battle over their daughter. Basinger has since opened up about the challenges in her marriage and her divorce from The Boss Baby star.
In her video, Baldwin also noted that, while she could have put her child up “for adoption,” she ultimately believed that bringing a child into her life wasn’t an option. She then said that, by getting an abortion, she was choosing herself, which was a choice she doesn’t regret.
“Could I have had that baby and put that baby up for adoption?” she said. “Maybe, maybe not. But choosing to raise a baby without my own financial security, without a loving and supportive partner. That wasn’t going to work for me. I chose me and I would choose me again. It’s your life, it’s your choice.”
Elsewhere in the video, she explained that, while she was sharing her story of sexual assault and abortion, she doesn’t believe that it is anyone else’s “responsibility” to do the same if they don’t “feel comfortable”.
“I’ve seen countless TikToks in the past 24 hours, where women are telling other women that it is their responsibility to share their abortion story,” she said. “I find that to be invasive and wrong and just simply not true.”
Baldwin’s video comes after the United States Supreme Court eliminated the consitutional right to get an abortion on 24 June, when it overturned key precedents in the 1973 decision in Roe v Wade and the decision in 1992’s Planned Parenthood v Casey.
With the choice whether to ban abortion now up to each state, 13 states will move to immediately or quickly to outlaw the procedure with so-called “trigger” bans, while it is projected that 22 states will ultimately ban abortion.
Since the ruling, multiple celebrities have spoken out on social media, including former first lady Michelle Obama, who shared her “heartbreak” over the Supreme Court’s decision.
You can find a list of abortion funds and pro-choice organisations to donate to and support here.
