Halsey opened up in a powerful essay about motherhood and abortion one week after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The musician, who uses she/they pronouns, penned the essay for Vogue on July 1 and candidly discussed the birth of her first child, Ender Ridley, and the health issues they struggled with leading up to their son’s birth. Before Ender was born, the musician experienced three miscarriages, all before the age of 24.
“It seemed a cruel irony that I could get pregnant with ease but struggled to maintain a pregnancy," they wrote.
“One of my miscarriages required ‘aftercare,’ a gentle way of saying that I would need an abortion, because my body could not terminate the pregnancy completely on its own and I would risk going into sepsis without medical intervention,” they continued. “During this procedure, I cried. I was afraid for myself and I was helpless. I was desperate to end the pregnancy that was threatening my life.”
In the essay, Halsey also revealed they rewrote their will during the third trimester of pregnancy with detailed instructions on organ donation should they die, explaining they were “prepared for the worst" because of their previous experiences.
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“How funny that while my own heart would amount to nothing more than a series of involuntary movements on an operating table, a beating heart in my womb could mean I couldn’t consent to saving my own life,” Halsey wrote. “This is what some people who wish to see the end of abortion rights believe is right.”
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Halsey said they recalled their miscarriages and abortion when giving birth to Ender shrouded in the same “unnerving” hospital environment. However, this time, "everything" went right.
"But when Ender was born, the world went silent," Halsey wrote. "My body, which I had loathed for years for routinely ‘failing,’ had done everything right.”
They said they “shed a single tear” after giving birth, describing that tear as one of “happiness.”
“My life’s long chapter of miscarriages and abortions was reduced to a page in that moment,” they said. “It was simply divided into ‘before’ this moment and all things that would come after it. Years of blood and pain and misery from near-perilous and unwanted pregnancies, then the euphoria of chosen motherhood.”
The “Without Me” singer said that people have asked them if they have “reconsidered” their stance on abortion since giving birth, but they has not, adding.
“In fact, I have never felt more strongly about it. My abortion saved my life and gave way for my son to have his," Halsey wrote. "Every person deserves the right to choose when, if, and how they have this dangerous and life-altering experience. I will hold my son in one arm, and fight with all my might with the other.”
Halsey has been transparent about their pro-choice stance on abortion, which was made even more clear on their social platforms in recent weeks. When the draft opinion regarding the overturning of Roe v. Wade was leaked in May, the singer shared an impassioned post on Instagram, urging their audience to take action.
In a tweet on June 24, Halsey also joined the group of celebrities speaking out against the Supreme Court's decision.
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