Paris Hilton is getting candid about bodily autonomy.
In a new cover story with Glamour UK, the heiress opened up about her experience having an abortion when she was in her early twenties. Hilton said that she previously didn't wish to publicly discuss the procedure, citing feelings of shame.
“This was also something that I didn’t want to talk about because there was so much shame around that,” she explained. “I was a kid and I was not ready for that."
Hilton also addressed the recent Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, stripping the United States of protections surrounding abortion. The procedure is now almost completely banned in 13 states, with several others imposing restrictions.
"There’s just so much politics around it and all that, but it’s a woman’s body. Why should there be a law based on that? It’s your body, your choice, and I really believe in that," Hilton continued. "It’s mind-boggling to me that they’re making laws about what you do with your reproductive health, because if it were the other way around with the guys, it would not be this way at all."
Hilton recently welcomed her first child with her husband, Carter Reum, via surrogate. She explained that they chose to conceive with a surrogate because "childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world."
Hilton touched on several negative experiences throughout her life, including the nonconsensual release of her sex tape, and the physical abuse she alleges she endured at the Provo Canyon School. Hilton shared that she created her "dumb blonde" persona as a "trauma response."
“The character was a trauma response, it was actually more comforting to put on this mask just to deal with everything I’d been through in life," she said. "I was inspired by Marilyn Monroe, Barbie and Dolly Parton, all these blonde icons who were definitely playing characters as well. And that just made me not think about any of the bad stuff. It was like a total escape."
Hilton added: "I think I’ve just been through so many things that I’m a warrior, I’m a fighter, I’m brave. And I’m a bada**."
