Former Pussycat Dolls singer Kaya Jones got candid about regretting her abortions and the reason she’s speaking up about it now.
The Canadian-born singer described her experience while speaking with Christine Yeargin for her “Speak Out” podcast.
Jones, whose real name is Chrystal Neria, admitted that she’d had “multiple” abortions over the years and felt compelled to talk about them as a way of warning other young women who are considering the same path.
“After the first one, you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. It’s been normalized. And what is a line until you’ve crossed it? … Once you’ve crossed that line, it’s a very slippery slope to continue to cross those lines,” the 38-year-old singer said.
“It is very painful. There is a lot of anger. There’s a lot of frustration,” Jones continued. “There’s a lack of knowledge. There’s a lot of regrets. And nothing can make that go away other than God himself when you lay it at his feet and ask for salvation on these issues.”
The former girl group member said her first abortion occurred when she was 16 or 17, and her birth control failed. Jones explained how she “didn’t have an understanding” that abortion was “murder,” so she went on her own to the clinic without consulting her family, saying she didn’t need anyone’s consent even at that age.
When she got pregnant again, Jones said she was part of the Pussycat Dolls and explained, “I was told to get rid of it.”
“And at that point, because I had already gone through an abortion previously, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” she continued.
Finally, Jones said she was raped at the age of 30 and became pregnant following the assault. She said she “wanted to keep the baby,” but due to the stress of it and “complications,” she ultimately decided to have another abortion.
During the podcast interview, she cautioned against “demonizing” women who have had abortions. She said she feels compelled to tell her story as a way of relating with other young women who have also gone through the experience. “When you’ve had one, you think you can keep having them,” Jones said.
“You will regret it your whole life,” she says of having abortions, including in the case of rape. “Even if I become a mother tomorrow, and I’m happily married and all is well, I’m still going to regret the three children I did not have.”