Former Miss Universe Australia Is Grateful She Was Able To Get An Abortion At 21

Former Miss Universe Australia, Maria Thattil, has revealed that she had an abortion at age 21.

The model and TV host shared her story in the wake of the US Supreme Court's decision to strike out Roe v Wade, which was legislation that had previously granted American women access to safe and legal abortions across the nation.

The 2020 contestant for the global beauty contest reflected on how important abortion access is to women.  

"I was 21 when I had my abortion and there isn’t a single day that goes by where I am not grateful that I had could safely access the procedure and healthcare for my circumstances," Thattil tweeted.

"Being forced to carry a pregnancy to term is not a respectable consequence of womanhood. It is a violation of personhood."

The beauty pageant queen added: "This is a sad day in history, I will never take my abortion for granted and I hope that you too don’t stay silent because we must keep fighting for our right to safe abortions."

She isn't the only Aussie to hit out at America's abortion ruling. 

Former Bachelor Australia star turned radio host Abbie Chatfield branded the US ruling as 'barbaric' on social media while sharing her own story.

"Overnight, abortion rights have been stripped in 12 states," Chatfield wrote on social media.

"As someone who has had an abortion, it made me sick."

The former reality star revealed she underwent an abortion at age 23 when she was six weeks’ pregnant.

According to a 2021 medical report, about 80,000 Australian women terminate their pregnancies each year.

So they're not uncommon. Even the person writing this has had one. It was either that or die from an ectopic pregnancy.

But now some women in the US don't even have access to abortions in life or death situations.

Several US states do not have exceptions to the abortion ban, which means women in high-risk medical situations or sex crime victims will have to no choice but to carry on with the pregnancy.

Basically, this means rape victims will be forced to bear their abuser's baby and many women now may face death as some miscarriages require an abortion to stop the patient from going sceptic, which is one of many complications that can end in death.

Women who have an abortion in Texas now face a life sentence in jail, which is longer than their rapist, who would only serve 20 years at maximum, as per CNET with a state-by-state breakdown on the impact of the abortion ruling.

Thankfully America's decision does not impact Australian law.

But NPR reports that the repercussions do echo around the world for women's reproductive rights, stoking fear that other countries could follow suit and start to legislate the women's bodies.

Featured Image Credit: Mariathattil/Instagram. Newscom/Alamy Stock Photo.

Topics: Sex and Relationships, Sex Education, Australia, News

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

@rlangjournalist