Grace Campbell has candidly discussed the severe physical and emotional impact of undergoing an abortion last year, revealing she experienced an intense depression afterward.
In an article for The Guardian, the comedian detailed her shock upon discovering her pregnancy and the turmoil she faced while deciding to have an abortion.
"Confusion overwhelmed me," she wrote. "I had always imagined I wouldn’t think twice about getting an abortion. I’ve never thought about having a child; I’ve been too busy behaving like one. But now, at 29, in what felt like my last gasp of young adulthood, the words, ‘I’ll have an abortion,’ didn’t slip off my tongue. The prospect of making such a finite decision freaked me out. I wished I had the grace of time."
Campbell fell into a deep depression following the procedure, something she was entirely unprepared for.
The doctor "said I would have some cramps and that I would bleed for a few days and then everything would be over," she explained.
"What he did not warn me was that I might bleed for a lot longer than that. In fact, for weeks and weeks, every time I went to the toilet, I’d see chunks of bloody tissue."
"He also didn’t warn me I might feel depression like I’ve never experienced before," Campbell continued. "That I would have a hormonal crash that puts my historical comedown from Bestival 2014 to shame."
Campbell noted that the doctor showed her the fetus on the screen and gave her a pill but failed to prepare her for the emotional aftermath. "That I would feel a pervasive sense of guilt for letting go of something that was mine. And that then I would feel shame—shame that feeling guilty was, in some way, a dishonor to the women who fought for my right to be able to have this choice," she wrote.
Pro-Choice Advocacy and Rising Anti-Abortion Activism
Regularly incorporating her life experiences into her stand-up routines, Campbell also addressed her pro-choice stance and the growing anti-abortion activism and legislation.
"I am obviously pro-choice," she affirmed. "I am lucky I live in a place where abortions are accessible, and I won’t get arrested for having one. Especially, as we’re so acutely aware of the fact that in the US, a growing number of states are making abortions illegal, while in the UK, there has been an increase in the number of women being prosecuted for having abortions after 24 weeks, as well as a rise in far-right MPs unashamedly vocalizing their anti-choice opinions."
Emotional Struggles and Advocacy
Campbell expressed her nervousness about writing on the grief she felt following her abortion and the ease with which she could access the procedure compared to women in other regions, adding to her conflicted feelings.
"I was nervous writing this. I’ve worried that in doing so, I am letting women down. You only have to look at the upcoming American elections to see we are being confronted with loud, powerful men who are trying to occupy our basic right to choose," she said.
Establishing Her Own Identity
Grace Campbell, daughter of journalist and former Tony Blair communications chief Alastair Campbell, has spoken about creating an identity distinct from her father's legacy. In an interview with The Independent, she discussed using comedy to carve out her own niche, often focusing on sex and relationships to build her unique audience.
"When I was starting out in comedy, for me it was like, ‘How can I establish myself completely distinctively and away from my dad?’” she said. “And talking about sex and relationships is a great way to do that, because it’s setting up my own audience.”
She also talked about her podcast "28 Dates Later," where she went on 28 dates in two months, recording and analyzing the results for each episode.
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