--- title: Chelsea Handler Had 2 Abortions When She was 16 description: In an essay in 'Playboy', comedian Chelsea Handler admitted she had two abortions when she was 16. canonical: https://time.com/4384468/chelsea-handler-abortions/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-27T21:20:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:49.997Z og:title: Chelsea Handler Has No Regrets About Her 2 Abortions og:description: She had both when she was 16 og:url: https://time.com/4384468/chelsea-handler-abortions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5457eab936b4e89b/698899a2f887dce8ede96695/chelsea-handler-abortion-teenager.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4176 og:image:height: 2349 og:image:alt: Netflix's Rebels And Rule Breakers Luncheon And Panel Celebrating The Women Of Netflix - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chelsea Handler Has No Regrets About Her 2 Abortions twitter:description: She had both when she was 16 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5457eab936b4e89b/698899a2f887dce8ede96695/chelsea-handler-abortion-teenager.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chelsea Handler Has No Regrets About the 2 Abortions She Had as a Teen > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 27, 2016 9:20 PM UTC  BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MAY 14: TV host/comedian Chelsea Handler attends Netflix's Rebels and Rule Breakers Luncheon and Panel Celebrating The Women of Netflix at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on May 14, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MAY 14: TV host/comedian Chelsea Handler attends Netflix's Rebels and Rule Breakers Luncheon and Panel Celebrating The Women of Netflix at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on May 14, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images) Mark Davis/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 27, 2016 9:20 PM UTC [Chelsea Handler](http://motto.time.com/4316630/chelsea-handler-single-women-shaming/) revealed in an [essay in the July/August issue of _Playboy_](http://www.playboy.com/articles/my-choice-chelsea-handler) that she had two abortions when she was 16\. “Getting an abortion wasn’t the first idea that popped into my unripened brain,” she said. Handler’s [abortions](http://motto.time.com/4375317/supreme-court-texas-abortion-case/) came at what she called a “bad stage” in her life: “I hated my parents and I was having unprotected sex with my boyfriend, who was not someone I should’ve been having sex with in the first place, never mind unprotected sex.” Once she told her parents about the pregnancy, however, they “acted like parents for one of the very first times in my life and took me to [Planned Parenthood](http://motto.time.com/4374698/planned-parenthood-barbara-bush/).” She says that after her abortion, she was “relieved in every possible way.” **_Read more:_** [_Read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Powerful Defense of Abortion Rights_](http://motto.time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/) Handler got pregnant again not long after her first pregnancy. Although she initially worried she couldn’t afford the second procedure, she scrounged up $230. She said that she never regretted her decision to end the two pregnancies. “I’m grateful that I came to my senses and was able to get an abortion legally without risking my health or bankrupting myself or my family,” she wrote. “I don’t ever look back and think, God, I wish I’d had that baby.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4384468/chelsea-handler-abortions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4384468/chelsea-handler-abortions/"},"headline":"Chelsea Handler Has No Regrets About the 2 Abortions She Had as a Teen","datePublished":"2016-06-27T21:20:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:49.997Z","description":"'I’d love for somebody to try to tell me what to do with my body. 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