'The "why" doesn't matter': US actress' powerful testimony on abortion rights

Abortion rights have been a hotly contested issue for decades in the US, but actress Busy Philipps told US Congress on Tuesday women and their doctors should be the ones making decisions about it.

There has been a recent push across many American states to tighten legislative restrictions on abortions, with some states like Alabama going so far as to make abortions illegal.

Just weeks ago, Philips revealed on her late-night talk show Busy Tonight that she had an abortion when she was 15—something she knew was the right choice for her and that she has never once regretted.

But new laws in her home state of Arizona would make the process much more difficult for a teenage Philipps today, she told politicians in Congress.

She explained that under current legislation she would be required to gain parental consent, undergo ultrasound and counselling designed to "shame [her] into changing her mind," then wait 24 hours for the procedure.

"And finally, I would be forced to give this state a reason why," Philipps told the House Judiciary Committee.

The I Feel Pretty star then insisted the only "why" required should be that women have a right to make decisions about their own bodies.

"The ‘why’ doesn’t matter. It should not matter," she said.

"I am a human being that deserves autonomy in this country that calls itself free, and choices that a human being makes about their own bodies should not be legislated by strangers who can’t possibly know or understand each individual’s circumstances or beliefs.”

Many in the US have questioned why panels of male politicians are almost exclusively the people given the power to make decisions on women's reproductive rights. This is a sentiment Philipps echoed in her own statement.

“I don’t believe that a politician’s place is to decide what’s best for a woman. It’s a choice between a woman and her doctor," she said.

She insisted a woman's right to abortion should be considered just the same as her right to access any other medical procedure, as "abortion is health care."

Later in the hearing she was questioned by anti-abortion Rep. Louie Gohmert, who asked Philipps if she felt children who survived abortions had a right to life—a diversion from the actual topic of women's rights to abortions.

“Although I played a doctor on television, sir, I am actually not a physician," she said, referencing her role on medical drama ER.