Phoebe Bridgers on her abortion: 'I don't think about it as a baby, of course not'
Phoebe Bridgers was surprised at the response when she recently revealed she had an abortion in 2021. In a timely new interview published on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, Bridgers calls out the "slow-drip poison of American politics" and why it was "so easy" to terminate her pregnancy.
After the Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked in May, Bridgers tweeted how she had an abortion last year while on tour. ("I went to Planned Parenthood where they gave me the abortion pill. It was easy. Everyone deserves that kind of access.") The 27-year-old singer tells the Guardian she "didn't think about it, really, at all" before hitting send.
"I've always found comfort in talking to people in passing — when someone's mom says: 'I had an abortion when I was a teen.' It normalized it for me. I was, 'All right, it's time to throw my hat into that pool,'" she shares.
Bridgers was trying to make the point that "as a white, upper-middle-class woman from California, even if it were to be overturned" she "will always have access."
"I have a friend who went to medical school — every time I need a doctor, I say, 'Do you have someone that you recommend?' So I would just go: 'Hey, where do I go for the thing? Wink-wink.' The people with access will always have access," the "Moon Song" crooner explains. "What pisses me off is that we're not talking about me. It's so easy: I played in Texas the same week, and then I went home and was like: oh my God. Made the appointment. It was 12 hours of my life."
Bridgers was particularly bothered by one reaction she received by going public with her story: "People with good intentions saying: 'Don’t say it was easy for you to make that decision — it was clearly really emotional.'"
The "I Know the End" singer states, "I wasn't f***ing emotional at all. Hormonally crazy! But I don't think you should assign 'it tore me up' to me. No! I don't think about it as a baby, of course not."
Bridgers, who grew up outside of Los Angeles, notes her parents are radicalized — "the good radicalized" — and remembers at age 10 when she found her dad crying after George W. Bush was elected president for a second term.
"I went into the living room and my dad was sobbing. I grew up with the weight of what stuff means, which I think is really important, especially because if I wanted to, I could just close my eyes to it and disappear. That's what's so f***ed up about this economy — the lucky ones get to flee to the coasts while so much shit is happening to poor people in the center of the country," she says.
Bridgers is donating a dollar from every ticket of her tour to an organization that helps undocumented people get abortions.
MORE: Singer Phoebe Bridgers shares her abortion story after Supreme Court leak
