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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
Kelly Bishop has opened up about a “very private abortion” she had when she was younger.
In an interview with PeopleThe 80-year-old actress reflected on her career on stage and screen, dating back to her breakthrough role in the 1975 Broadway musical. A chorus line to her role as Emily Gilmore in the beloved drama Gilmore GirlsAll of which he addressed in his next memoirs, The Third Gilmore Girlwhere she candidly recalled many of her most private experiences, including her decision not to have children.
Bishop is the stepmother of Norma Sheryl Leonard, the daughter of Bishop's late husband, former ESPN and CNN anchor Lee Leonard, who passed away in 2018. She noted that she had always known she did not want to have children since she was young.
“I was pretty young,” Bishop told the outlet. “I remember my mom even reminding me [when I was an adult]“You were a little girl when you said… I’m not going to have children.”
“I meant it,” he said. Dirty Dancing The actor recalled: “And that was fine. I mean, it’s a choice.”
She added that she was grateful for Roe v. Wade When she was about thirty, she was able to have an abortion.
“It was a huge relief to know that there was that option,” Bishop explained. “Of course, it had never occurred to me that I could accidentally get pregnant. That never even crossed my mind. But the fact that it was possible and legal was a huge relief.”
She hadn't planned to talk about her abortion in her memoirs, but not because of any residual “shame.”
“That's a private thing that I just wasn't going to include until the Supreme Court got rid of it. Roe v. Wade“Bishop said. “And more and more women – actresses, but also other celebrities – of my generation were saying, ‘I had an abortion. I had an abortion.’”
Reproductive rights have been an important cause for Bishop, and the actor recalls attending a pro-choice rally in 2004 in Washington, D.C., with Gilmore Girls Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and producer Helen Pai. While she doesn’t describe herself as “political,” she noted that she believes that by sharing her own abortion experience, she can connect with younger readers who struggle with the shame and stigma surrounding abortion.
“I just wanted to include it so young women today have an idea of where we were back then,” Bishop said, noting that her past experiences could help them make informed decisions in the present.
