Steven Tyler's ex-girlfriend speaks out about forced abortions: 'They happen everywhere abortion is legal'
The ex-girlfriend of rock star Steven Tyler appeared on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Friday to share her story about forced abortion since the issue of Roe v. Wade was a major topic during the Senate confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Carlson began the segment by recounting the statements from “childless ideologues like [Senator] Cory Booker this week about abortion” during Barrett’s confirmation hearings. “You heard very little from people who actually had abortions and so tonight, we thought we would speak with one,” he said.
Carlson introduced Julia Holcomb, the former girlfriend of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who had an abortion during her relationship with him in the 1970s. He asked Holcomb to share her thoughts on the confirmation hearings.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
“I was thrilled that she was there as a candidate for the Supreme Court,” Holcomb said. “I thought that she was a great potential justice and I’m happy that she was nominated. I think that the left likes to portray abortion as pro-woman, and my story is a very personal example of how abortion damages women and how coercive it is.”
Holcomb recalled how she met Tyler when she was 16 years old. Shortly after he became her legal guardian, while she was still a teenager, Holcomb informed Tyler that she was pregnant.
“I asked to see a doctor and set up a prenatal visit and he refused. He said, ‘No, you can’t go to a doctor. They would ask questions about how old you are and how you became pregnant and who the father is,’” she said.
“Along the way, Steven had a change of heart and he made the decision that he wanted me to have an abortion. He came to me, he told me that his lawyers had set up a doctor. This was very early after Roe v. Wade had been decided so there hadn’t been many abortions and I was pretty far along,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb said she was “at least five months along” at the time of her abortion. She talked about how she “begged to keep my baby.”
“It came down to I could have the abortion or I could hit the street,” she said. “I had dropped out of high school to live with Steven. I had never been taught to drive, I had no car, no money. I was completely dependent upon Steven in every way.”
After recalling how she “caved in out of fear,” she admitted that she ended up having a “horrific, late-term saline abortion that was just traumatizing.”
Holcomb said that “it took years to recover from that experience.”
“You know, sometimes, we can think that coerced abortions only happen somewhere like China, where women are forced to undergo abortions against their will. But the truth is that coerced abortions happen everywhere abortion is legal and a woman can become pregnant. And the first thing she has to do is defend her baby’s right to be born,” she added.
Holcomb went on to describe Barrett as “a woman who is very strong,” praising her for balancing her family and career and referring to her as “a gift to the country.” Holcomb, who has since become a pro-life activist who travels across the U.S. on a regular basis, remarked that women have come up to her and shared their stories about their abortions with her.
When asked by Carlson what Tyler thinks of his decision to push Holcomb to have an abortion, the singer’s ex-girlfriend contended that “even Steven experienced the regret after having gone through the ordeal of my abortion.” According to Holcomb, Tyler recounted his reaction in his autobiography, asking, “Jesus, what have I done?” She concluded her appearance by declaring that the abortion was traumatic for the rock star, who went on to have children of his own, including actress Liv Tyler.
Holcomb had previously told the story of her traumatic abortion at the 2012 March for Life: “The preparation I received for my abortion was a doctor that stood beside me with a needle out of my view and he said ‘hold very still or you could be killed or injured.’ I froze in fear and before I could even ask him what he meant, he had stabbed my stomach with a needle puncturing my uterus and began to inject saline.”
“Steven told me that everything would be fine if I would just agree to the abortion, but that was a lie,” she told the crowd. “Everything was worse after that abortion. Our relationship was never the same. I could never look at him without remembering what he had coerced me into doing, and my baby that I lost. And I don’t think he ever could look at me again without remembering what he had done.”
According to Holcomb, “He told me later that he was racked with guilt. That he regretted what he had done, just as I did, and that he dreaded what God would do to him because of my abortion. About a year later, I returned home but I was a broken and wounded spirit. I had terrible nightmares, I would wake up in the night reliving that horrible abortion.”
Following a church retreat, Holcomb decided to give her life to God and ask for His forgiveness and healing: “I was baptized. I received the sacrament of confession and I began to memorize Bible verses that helped to form my conscience.”
Holcomb contended that her conversion, along with her attendance at a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat, enabled her to experience the healing she had long sought after. Holcomb concluded her speech by announcing that she had been married for 30 years and had seven children.
