Simone Biles Spoke Out About Abortion as a Former Foster Child
She later clarified that she supports the foster system *and* a woman's right to choose abortion.
Simone Biles, who just returned from the Tokyo Games with a bronze medal for women’s balance beam and a silver for the artistic team all-around, asked her fans for their “unpopular opinions” on her Instagram Story on August 9th and made some strong points on the topic of abortion.
I already know this is going to start the biggest argument & [I] may even lose followers BUT, Biles began in her response to a follower who submitted the opinion abortion is wrong. Biles continued, I’m very much pro-choice. Your body. Your choice.
“Also for everyone gonna say ‘just put it up for adoption,'” she added with a string of rolling eyes emojis. “It’s not that easy & coming from someone who was in the foster care system TRUST me. [The] foster care system is broken & it’s TOUGH. Especially on the kids & young adults who age out.”
“[And] adoption is expensive … I’m just saying. [And] don’t even come at me if you couldn’t keep a mask on or refused to wear one,” she added, likely referring to the fact that anti-maskers have coopted the “my body, my choice” slogan.
Just as she suspected, her comments stirred up feedback from plenty of people. After someone tweeted their dissent to Biles, the gymnast replied that people were already taking what she said and twisting it into something else.
She wrote, I did NOT say I support to abort rather than to put them through the foster care system. What I did imply is that you should not control someone elses body/decision.
Biles was adopted by her maternal grandfather, Ron, and his second wife, Nellie, after Biles and her younger sister were placed into foster care. Biles, who was only 3 years old at the time she entered the system, has previously stated that her mother was addicted to drugs and was in and out of jail.
Ron and Nellie, whom both Biles and her sister Adria call “Dad” and “Mom,” adopted the girls three years after they entered foster care. Their older siblings, Tevin and Ashley, were adopted by Ron’s sister.
Biles and her sister were so incredibly lucky to have Ron and Nellie step in and become their parents, but so many children in the foster care system find themselves stuck there. So listen to Biles when she says that putting a child up for adoption is not always the better choice over abortion because she knows firsthand how hard the life of a foster care child can be.
