Busy Philipps testifies before congress on abortion rights: ’It’s my body, not the states’

US actor and talk show host Busy Philipps has fronted a House Judiciary subcommittee to give testimony about the threat to abortion rights across several US states. Philipps spoke of the abortion she had when she was 15-years-old in her home state of Arizona. ‘It was not a decision I made lightly’ but a decision she said she never regretted. ’But so much has changed in Arizona since then’. Philipps listed all the challenges a 15-year-old would face in 2019 if they needed to access an abortion in Arizona. ‘Legally I would have to get parental consent. I would be forced to undergo a medically unnecessary ultrasound, to go to a state-mandated in-person counselling, designed solely to shame me into changing my mind, then take a state-mandated 24-hour time out to make sure I really knew what I wanted.’ And finally, she said: ‘I would be forced to give the state a reason why. Well, here is mine: My body belongs to me, not the state’. Subscribe to Guardian News on YouTube ►