Ireland Baldwin Reveals She Was Raped as a Teenager Amid Roe v. Wade Being Overturned

Amid the historic and controversial overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision of Roe v. Wade last week, Ireland Baldwin is getting candid about her heartbreaking experience with abortion. The 26-year-old model took to her TikTok on Sunday evening to detail the account as a way to support other women amid Friday’s landmark ruling, which has made abortion illegal in several states across the country.

Sharing how it is not “anyone’s responsibility” to talk about such things if they feel uncomfortable, the daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger revealed she was only sharing it because she wants “other women to feel supported and loved, whether they want to share their own story or not” in light of others admitting their experiences on TikTok.

“I’m not here to tell this story today, but I was raped when I was a teenager, and I was completely unconscious when it happened, and it changed the course of the rest of my life,” she said. “I never told anyone at the time, not for years. The only person who knew was a nurse that treated me shortly after. And I didn’t even tell my own boyfriend at the time. Not my parents. No one.”

Baldwin admits that keeping such a secret caused a lot of hurt and pain to her and her loved ones, as the ordeal sent her into a spiral of drinking, partying and self-medicating as a means of distraction from the pain. It was then that the social media influencer found herself in an abusive and toxic relationship and friendships that did not serve her positively. The Supreme Court’s decision sparked Baldwin to reflect on that crucial moment in her life, hence her admission via social media. 

“Seeing so many other brave women share their stories, got me thinking what my life would have been like if I had become pregnant, and if I had to raise a maybe during everything I was going through at the time,” Baldwin confessed. “Mind you, I have medical resources, money and support that a lot of women do not have access to. It would have simply been traumatizing and impossible.”

Further revealing how she became pregnant and decided to undergo an abortion, Baldwin shares that it was a time in her life when things were not exactly going to plan for her and her partner.  “Flash forward to another point in my life when I did have a boyfriend, and I did become pregnant,” she said. “At that point in time, I would say we were very unhappy together and he made it clear that he never wanted kids or marriage. He barely wanted to be in a serious relationship.”

Baldwin says she “chose” to get an abortion because she knew exactly what a dynamic between two “unhappy” people was like through the lens of her divorced parents, Alec and Basinger. “I know exactly what it felt like to be born between two people who hated each other,” she said referring to their turbulent relationship. “I chose me, and I would choose me again. Could I have had that baby and put that baby up for adoption? Maybe. Maybe not. But choosing to raise a baby without my own financial security, without a loving and supportive partner, that wasn’t gonna work for me… I chose me, and I would choose me again. It’s your life, it’s your choice.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, which commonly protects a pregnant woman’s right to choose to have an abortion for their own personal reasons, will create new rules restricting or completely banning access to the procedure in more than half of the states. Complications for women, trans men and nonbinary individuals across the U.S., particularly in GOP-led states in the South and Midwest, are expected to flare up as the decision undoes more than 50 years of constitutional protections.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.