Jamie Lynn Spears broke down in tears on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here as she recalled being pressured to have an abortion when she became pregnant at 16, and being told that she would be a “horrible mum.”
The actress and singer, who is also the younger sister of international music sensation Britney Spears, is currently a contestant on the ITV show. During Monday evening’s episode, viewers watched as Jamie Lynn broke down in tears as she shared with fellow contestant Fed Sirieix how those closest to her were deeply unsupportive during her pregnancy.
She said: “I had my love of my life, what I thought, I decided to keep the baby. I was 16. The whole world was like, ‘You’re a s**t, you’re horrible your life is over…’
“I moved to Mississippi and literally hid. Put a gate around me. I had 20 paparazzi on me every day. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They came and lived in Mississippi, middle of nowhere. It was horrible. I hated it so much. I just wanted to be normal. I wanted my baby to be normal. Everybody told me I was going to be a horrible mum. So, I was like I’ve got to raise this baby by myself and I did.
“When I went away… when I first got pregnant… They didn’t want me to have the baby. A lot of people around me.”
Jamie Lynn’s testimony comes only weeks after Britney Spears revealed in a memoir that she had an abortion after becoming pregnant with singer Justin Timberlake, “who didn’t want to be a father”. Remembering her abortion, Britney said that, “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life”
Abortion pressure an enormous issue for many women
SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: : “Jamie Lynn is courageous for sharing her experience of what must have been a devastating point in her life. While Jamie Lynn went on to reject the pressure from those around her and have her baby, she is not alone in feeling unsupported during pregnancy.
“A recent US study revealed that 87% of women with abortion histories experienced some form of pressure, personal and/or circumstantial, "
“In the UK, a recent poll commissioned by the BBC found that 15% of British women felt pressured in some way into having an abortion. At last year’s London SPUC conference, bioethicist Dr Greg Pike, Senior Research Fellow at the Bios Centre, commented on how academics have been ‘enormously downplaying’ the reality of coerced abortion.
“It is disheartening to witness the harsh reality of how coerced abortion is affecting the lives of women in the UK and around the world. Whether it's emotional, financial or practical assistance, mothers deserve support. It’s time for a more collective effort to ensure that women feel empowered and supported during pregnancy and protected from the unwanted pressure to have an abortion.”