Hilarie Burton reveals abortion after pregnancy loss helped her to conceive daughter

Former One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton has revealed how undergoing an ‘abortion’ helped her to overcome infertility struggles and enabled her to conceive a second child – as she hit out at the Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade. 

The 39-year-old took to Instagram on Tuesday to speak out about the fertility struggles she faced while trying to have a second child with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan, revealing that she had to undergo a D&C procedure – which she referred to as an abortion – after suffering a miscarriage.

She explained that the termination enabled her ‘uterus to heal’, which in turn paved the way for her to safely conceive and carry her now-four-year-old daughter George. 

‘This is my child. My beloved. My daughter,’ she began her post, which featured a sweet picture of her daughter. ‘It is no secret I struggled with infertility. Losing multiple pregnancies before her was traumatic.

Fighting back: Actress Hilarie Burton has spoken out about her abortion experience as she decried the overruling of Roe v. Wade

'My beloved. My daughter': The One Tree Hill star said getting an abortion after a miscarriage help her womb to heal so she could carry her now four-year-old daughter George (pictured)

‘My beloved. My daughter’: The One Tree Hill star said getting an abortion after a miscarriage help her womb to heal so she could carry her now four-year-old daughter George (pictured)

‘But female bodies are all different and unpredictable. Having an abortion after my fetus died allowed for my uterus to heal in a way that made it healthy enough to carry future pregnancies.’  

Dilation and Curretage (known as D&C) is the most common method of early abortion. The minor surgery involves a gentle aspiration of the pregnancy tissue and possibly a mild scraping of the uterine cavity to ensure its completeness.

A D&C procedure is considered safe and will not affect the patient’s ability to get pregnant in the future. It is most often recommended to women who miscarry between ten and 12 weeks, and to any patients who have suffered an incomplete miscarriage. 

The procedures are most often carried out in order to ensure that the miscarriage does not cause any complications like infection or hemorrhaging. However, the APA also notes that the process can help some women to begin emotional healing after losing a child.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, around 50 per cent of women who lose a baby in the first few months of pregnancy have to undergo the procedure, and it is more likely to be necessary if the baby was lost after ten weeks.

It differs from a Dilate and Evacuation (D&E) which is done in the second trimester and involves the patient’s cervix being dilated, before suction is used to remove the fetus. While a surgical abortion removes a pregnancy using medication and small dilating sticks, called Laminaria, other special instruments, and vacuum curettage.

The White Collar star continued: ‘It doesn’t matter if you use the term D&C. The official word on the hospital paperwork is abortion. That’s what it was.’

Burton went on to say the ‘painful day’ would have been ‘worse’ if abortions were illegal and if she’d had to have ‘law enforcement inspect my body to make sure I hadn’t caused my own miscarriage’. 

‘Cause that’s what’s coming,’ she warned. ‘It’s already happened. It was commonplace before #roevwade.’

Speaking out: Burton insisted her pregnancy loss experience would have been made 'worse' without Roe v. Wade

Speaking out: Burton insisted her pregnancy loss experience would have been made ‘worse’ without Roe v. Wade

All smiles: The White Collar star also shares 12-year-old son, Augustus, with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan

All smiles: The White Collar star also shares 12-year-old son, Augustus, with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan

The Drama Queens podcast host added: ‘Row V Wade protected my rights as a woman to have miscarriages without scrutiny. Now I know a lot of you have miscarried. You’ve written me to tell me about it.

‘Think about every loss and then compound it by knowing that the Supreme Court just said it’s okay for states to look at you as a murder suspect in that situation. Your miscarriage will make you a murder suspect.’

The former MTV host then concluded: ‘I can’t say this clearly enough or shout it loud enough. I only have my daughter because of my abortion.

‘So f*** you very much to the Supreme Court. And f** you to the ignorant right wing extremists who want my daughter to have fewer rights than what I was born with. #wewillnotgoback.’

Candid couple: Burton and Morgan have previously spoken out about the infertility struggles they faced when trying for a second child

Candid couple: Burton and Morgan have previously spoken out about the infertility struggles they faced when trying for a second child

Burton first revealed she was expecting her second child in September 2017

The actress revealed the couple spent five years trying to conceive

Their miracle baby: Burton first revealed she was expecting her second child in September 2017

Familiar face: Burton found fame starring in One Tree Hill alongside (L-R) Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush, James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz

Familiar face: Burton found fame starring in One Tree Hill alongside (L-R) Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush, James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz

The Rural Diaries author, who is also the mother of son Augustus, 12, has been vocal about her pregnancy losses over the years.

When George was born, Burton revealed that she and The Walking Dead star Morgan, 56, had spent five years trying to expand their family.

‘When this pregnancy started, we were cautious,’ she wrote on Instagram at the time. ‘I didn’t want to celebrate for fear of jinxing it. I didn’t want a baby shower. I checked her heartbeat every day, up until the day she was born.’

Burton’s revelation came as former The Hills star Lauren Conrad, 36, also opened up about receiving ‘lifesaving reproductive care’ for an ectopic pregnancy.

The mother-of-two explained she suffered the potentially life-threatening loss – which occurs a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus – while trying to start a family with husband William Tell, 42.

Sharing experiences: Former The Hills star Lauren Conrad also opened up about her own experience with 'lifesaving reproductive care'; Conrad pictured in March

Sharing experiences: Former The Hills star Lauren Conrad also opened up about her own experience with ‘lifesaving reproductive care’; Conrad pictured in March

In her own life: Along with being moved by the stories of women online, Conrad said that plenty of women in her own life have 'had their own experiences with abortion' over the years. 'I am so grateful that in each case they were able to safely receive the healthcare they needed and were free to make their own decisions,' wrote the fashion designer

In her own life: Along with being moved by the stories of women online, Conrad said that plenty of women in her own life have ‘had their own experiences with abortion’ over the years. ‘I am so grateful that in each case they were able to safely receive the healthcare they needed and were free to make their own decisions,’ wrote the fashion designer

Motherhood: Approximately a year after her ectopic pregnancy, Conrad gave birth to her first child, son Liam James, in 2017. Two years later, she and her husband welcomed their second son, Charlie Wolf

Motherhood: Approximately a year after her ectopic pregnancy, Conrad gave birth to her first child, son Liam James, in 2017. Two years later, she and her husband welcomed their second son, Charlie Wolf

‘Six years ago, while trying to start our family, I had an ectopic pregnancy. Due to the prompt medical care doctors saved my Fallopian tubes, allowing me to have two healthy pregnancies,’ Conrad explained on Instagram.

Approximately a year after her ectopic pregnancy, Lauren gave birth to her first child, son Liam James, in 2017. Two years later, she and her husband welcomed their second son, Charlie Wolf.

The TV star said she felt inspired to share her story after reading of another woman’s near-fatal experience with an ectopic pregnancy after the shocking reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Friday’s controversial ruling saw the Supreme Court end constitutional protections for abortion that have been in place for nearly 50 years by deciding to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and hand back power to individual states to decide whether or not to permit the procedure.

The vote was 5-4 to scrap Roe, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing separately to say he would have upheld the Mississippi law but not taken the additional step of erasing the precedent altogether. 

Big decision: Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo. Sitting L-R: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Standing L-R: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Big decision: Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo. Sitting L-R: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Standing L-R: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Changes: Thirteen states were set to enact historic law or impose new restrictions on abortions if Roe v. Wade was ever overturn

Changes: Thirteen states were set to enact historic law or impose new restrictions on abortions if Roe v. Wade was ever overturn

At the same time, the court voted 6-3 to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks, with very few medical exceptions. 

The justices held that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights. 

A total of 13 states – Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – have adopted so-called ‘trigger laws’ that banned abortion virtually immediately. 

The decision means that women with unwanted pregnancies in large swathes of America will now face the choice of traveling to another state where the procedure remains legal and available, buying abortion pills online or having a potentially dangerous illegal abortion. 

The court’s ruling, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump. 

Many celebrities have since spoken out to share their horror over the landmark decision, including Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Amy Schumer, Busy Philipps, Bette Midler, Hailey Bieber, and Sophie Turner. 

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