Alyssa Milano Confesses She Had 2 Abortions Within a Year

Alyssa Milano is opening up about her decision to have two abortions many years ago. The actress, who has been vocal about her political beliefs in recent years, shared her truth in the latest episode of her podcast, Alyssa Milano: Sorry Not Sorry, revealing they happened in 1993 when she was in her early 20s.

“I knew at that time, I was not equipped to be a mother, and so I chose to have an abortion,” Milano said on the podcast. “I chose. It was my choice. And it was absolutely the right choice for me.”

“It was not an easy choice,” Milano added, who now shares daughter Elizabeth, 4, and son Milo, 7 with husband, Dave Bugliari. “It was not something I wanted, but it was something that I needed, like most health care is.”

Milano chose to speak out about her abortions as new restrictive laws have been passed recently by legislators, which has been criticized by many celebrities. Milano herself previously fought against the bills telling women to go on a sex strike, PEOPLE reported.

In the podcast, the Charmed star said she was in a serious relationship with her boyfriend and was on birth control when she first found out she was pregnant.

“I was in love for the first time, in the breathless way you can only be in love when you are young,” Milano shared, without naming her then-boyfriend. “It was huge, overwhelming even. It filled every part of living. And it was a joyful and exciting and powerful time in my life.”

But she “was not ready to be a parent,” Milano added.

At the time, the actress was just a year off Who’s The Boss — the sitcom that catapulted her into stardom when it premiered in 1984 — and was working on a number of TV films, including 1993’s Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story in which she played the role of Amy Fisher.

“I had a career and a future and potential,” she explained. She added that aside from her career aspirations, she was also on acne medication that could bring harm during pregnancy. All of it came to the decision for her to end her pregnancy.

“It was devastating,” Milano recalled on the podcast. “I was raised Catholic and was suddenly put in conflict with my faith. A faith I was coming to realize empowered only men to make every single decision about what was allowed and what was not allowed.”

After her abortion, she continued to enjoy sex with the man “I loved” at the time, and despite continuing to take birth control, she learned she was pregnant again months later.

The problem arose again Milano decided to have another pregnancy terminated.

“I had done what I knew to do to prevent pregnancy and was still pregnant, so once again I made the right decision to end that pregnancy,” she said.

Ultimately, Milano said she does not regret the choices she made in the past.

“I would not have my children — my beautiful, perfect, loving, kind and inquisitive children who have a mother who was so very, very ready for them,” she said. “I would not have my career. I would not have the ability or platform I use to fight against oppression with all my heart,” she continued. “I would never have met my amazing husband, David, whose steadfast and immeasurable love for me sustains me through these terrifying times.

“Fifteen years after that first love had fizzled, my life would be completely lacking all its great joys,” she added. “I would never had been free to be myself — and that’s what this fight is all about: freedom. Freedom from oppression. Freedom for women to have the audacity to be equally sexual beings as men. Freedom for women to live the life they were meant to have, not just the life that is thrust upon them by a pregnancy that cannot exist in their life.”