Ashley Judd has always been outspoken about a woman’s right to choose.

Now, in an emotional and powerful statement, she is defending her choice in having an abortion because it’s what saved her from having to “co-parent” with her rapist.

The actress is protesting a new Georgia bill that would ban abortion as soon as a heartbeat can be heard.

“As everyone knows, and I’m very open about it, I’m a three-time rape survivor. And one of the times I was raped, there was conception,” she told Katie Couric at the Women in the World summit in New York City. “And I’m very thankful I was able to access safe and legal abortion. Because the rapist, who is a Kentuckian, as am I, and I reside in Tennessee, has paternity rights in Kentucky and Tennessee. I would’ve had to co-parent with my rapist.”

She added, “So having safe access to abortion was personally important to me and, as I said earlier, democracy starts with our skin. We’re not supposed to regulate what we choose to do with our insides.”