In response to the recent SCOTUS decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case protecting the right to an abortion, “Laguna Beach” alum Lauren Conrad revealed that an abortion once saved her life while she was experiencing an ectopic pregnancy. “The last few days have been hard. I’ve been searching for the right words, and reposting someone else’s didn’t feel quite right,” Conrad wrote on her Instagram Stories on June 28, according to People. “I wanted to share my own experience with lifesaving reproductive care. Six years ago, while trying to start our family, I had an ectopic pregnancy.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, an ectopic pregnancy occurs “when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus.” Most often, these ectopic pregnancies occur in the fallopian tubes and are referred to as tubal pregnancies, but they can also occur on ovaries, in the abdominal cavity, and on the cervix. About one in 50 pregnancies are ectopic, and they can occur before you even know you’re pregnant, resulting in bleeding, cramping, lightheadedness, shoulder pain, feelings of weakness, and more. If not treated correctly, ectopic pregnancies can be life threatening.
“I am so grateful that in each case they were able to safely receive the healthcare they needed and were free to make their own decisions.”
Conrad, who currently shares two children — 4-year-old Liam James and 2-year-old Charlie Wolf — with her husband, William Tell, continued, “Due to prompt medical care doctors saved my fallopian tubes, allowing me to have two healthy pregnancies. Yesterday I read about a woman with this same condition having her ectopic pregnancy rupture — and facing death — while waiting for treatment, because her doctor was on the phone with his lawyer out of fear of losing his medical license (for using a D&C [dilation and curettage] as a tool to help establish the diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy). This is heart breaking.”
After expressing her heartache over the immediate shift in medical treatment following the Roe v. Wade decision, Conrad went on to explain the importance of giving people with uteruses the freedom to dictate what happens to their own bodies. “Many women in my life have had their own experiences with abortion,” she said. “I am so grateful that in each case they were able to safely receive the healthcare they needed and were free to make their own decisions.”
Conrad joins celebrities like Laura Prepon, Gloria Steinem, Phoebe Bridgers, and more in being vocal about their personal experiences with abortion. Despite the topic remaining taboo in many states across the nation, Conrad closed out her message by encouraging her followers to keep the conversation going and push for reproductive justice. “Talking about abortion is hard. It can be scary and sad and confusing, and it divides us,” she wrote. “But we must continue talking — and listening — to each other in a respectful way, especially when we disagree. I hope someday we will be in a place where every woman has access to the healthcare she needs and the freedom to decide what happens in her own body.”