Kelly Clarkson was visibly emotional as she discussed her history with difficult pregnancies on her self-titled talk show on Monday.
The 41-year-old singer and talk show host was chatting with guest Hillary Clinton about the Arizona State Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding a Civil War–era law that bans almost all forms of abortion in the state when she recalled being hospitalized while carrying both of her children.
‘I have been pregnant twice, hospitalized both times,’ the 41-year-old host of The Kelly Clarkson Show admitted, adding that her second pregnancy in particular was so ‘hard’ that she at one point prayed for death.
‘I mean, literally, I asked God — this is a real thing — “to just take me and my son” in the hospital the second time because I was, like, it’s the worst thing,’ she said, before tearfully apologizing for getting ’emotional.’
As she paused for a breather, the 76-year-old former Democratic presidential candidate jumped in to comfort her.
Kelly Clarkson, 41, called her two ‘hard’ pregnancies ‘the worst thing’ as she spoke about being hospitalized both times on Monday’s episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show; seen in 2020 in Santa Monica
She opened up about her dangerous pregnancies while chatting with Hillary Clinton, 76, about the Arizona State Supreme Court’s decision upholding a near-total abortion ban from 1864
‘It’s OK, because you’re speaking for so many,’ Clinton told her. ‘You’re speaking for literally millions of women in our country and around the world.’
Clarkson, who was still visibly upset, added of her experiences being hospitalized during her pregnancies: ‘It was just the worst … To make someone go through that — whew.’
Although women around the country living in states that have banned abortion in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling — which held that there was a federal constitutional right to have an abortion — may be forced to give birth against their will, Kelly made it clear that her two pregnancies were ‘my decision.’
The American Idol icon shares her daughter River, nine, and son Remy, eight, with her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, whom she finalized her divorce from in 2022.
‘And I’m so glad I did [have them],’ she continued. ‘I love my babies. But to make someone….’
‘There’s a cruelty toward women, towards women’s lives,’ Clinton chimed in.
Clarkson added: ‘And you don’t realize how hard it is. The fact that you would take that away from someone. That it can literally kill them.’
The songstress noted that the lack of abortions in the Arizona ban, which dates back to 1864, means that women who are ‘raped … by their family member’ would still be forced to carry the pregnancy to term.
‘That’s — it’s just, like, insane to me,’ she added.
‘I mean, literally, I asked God — this is a real thing — “to just take me and my son” in the hospital the second time because I was, like, it’s the worst thing,’ Kelly admitted, before tearfully apologizing for getting ’emotional’
Clarkson, who was still visibly upset, added of her experiences being hospitalized during her pregnancies: ‘It was just the worst … To make someone go through that — whew.’
Kelly made it clear her pregnancies with River, nine, and son Remy, eight, were her ‘decision.’ She shares them with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock
Although Arizona’s law, which the state supreme court ruled 4–2 in favor of enforcing in an April 9 ruling, does not have any exceptions for pregnant victims of rape or incest, though it theoretically allows doctors to terminate a pregnancy to save the life of the mother.
However, practitioners who provide abortions in any other context can go to prison for two to five years if convicted, according to NPR.
The Arizona justices have stayed their decision for 14 days and said it may be put on hold for longer.
While speaking to BBC Radio in 2015, Clarkson admitted that she had ‘such a horrible pregnancy’ when she gave birth to her daughter Rose, and her second pregnancy turned out to be even more difficult.
