The Dancing With the Stars pro revealed she had an abortion when she was 18 years old in a video posted to TikTok on Friday
Cheryl Burke is sharing her story.
Burke, 38, made her stance on the U.S. Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision to overturn Roe v. Wade clear on Friday, solemnly revealing in a new TikTok video that she had an abortion when she was 18 years old.
The Dancing With the Stars pro opened up about her experience, saying, “I am saddened by the news this morning and it weighs heavy in my heart because I had an abortion when I was 18 years old. If it wasn’t for places like Planned Parenthood, I would be a mother and I wouldn’t have been a great mother and I definitely wouldn’t be sitting here with you today.”
“You’re taking away women’s rights, our bodies, our freedom. Our bodies have nothing to do with anybody else, right? This is a decision that we need to make,” she added.
She explained in the video that she decided to get an abortion at a point in her life where she “was going through a really huge transition.”
“I was practicing safe sex. I was using protection and I was on birth control and s–– happens,” she said. “I was two weeks pregnant when I got an abortion. I remember rolling up to Planned Parenthood with Picketers holding anti-abortion signs and that alone was traumatic. But, on top of it all, the whole process is traumatic and the fact that now, you’re making it illegal for us women to make this decision about our own bodies is absolutely insanity.”
Added Burke: “It’s nobody’s business and honestly, I’m happy that I made that decision. I have no regrets, there’s no shame behind it. I’ve just chosen to share it now, but that doesn’t mean that there was any shame.”
The Supreme Court announced its decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling granting women the constitutional right to an abortion, on Friday morning – leaving the power to allow or outlaw abortions up to the individual states that make up the U.S.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” Alito wrote. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett backed the proposed 78-page ruling. Three of the listed judges were appointed by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Other celebrities, including Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, Hailey Bieber, and Tracee Ellis Ross commented on the ruling on Friday amid large-scale protests.
“This is about controlling bodies and keeping people in systemic poverty for generations. It’s heartbreaking that this personal medical decision has been made by people enforcing their evangelical beliefs on all of us,” Van Ness tweeted.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama also reacted to the news in a statement posted both to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, saying she was “heartbroken.”
“I am heartbroken that we may now be destined to learn the painful lessons of a time before Roe was made law of the land — a time when women risked losing their lives getting illegal abortions,” she wrote in part.
“When we don’t understand our history, we are doomed to repeat its mistakes,” she continued, adding links to Planned Parenthood and The United State of Women Reproductive Justice Hub for those looking to take action.
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