Kelly Clarkson recalls terrifying hospitalization during pregnancy, calls Arizona's near-total abortion ban 'backwards'

Kelly Clarkson got emotional on Monday (April 15) when she opened up to former First Lady Hillary Clinton about the challenges she faced during her two pregnancies and the shocking recent decision by the Arizona Supreme Court to set the stage for a near-total ban on abortions in the state. under an Act of 1864.

“Did you ever think in your life that we would see this happen?” Clarkson asked Clinton about the situation in Arizona that has drawn widespread criticism from abortion rights advocates for its lack of exemptions for rape and incest. “It's just crazy to me, the thought that went on in 1864. It's a very different world. We know a lot more now. We're going backwards.”

Former Sec. of Clinton State was in The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote her new Broadway musical about the women's suffrage movement, It looks good, which she co-produced. “It's scary. I was afraid it would happen, but I hoped it wouldn't happen,” Clinton said of the Supreme Court's conservative majority last striking down Roe v. Wade two years ago. “Now we're in the middle of this very difficult time for women in about half the states in our country, who can't get the care they need.”

Since the Roe decision, 21 states have enacted laws either banning or severely restricting abortion earlier in a pregnancy than the standard set by the 1973 Abortion Protection Act.

Clinton noted that Arizona's law — which was codified before Arizona was even a state — has no exceptions for rape or incest and serves as a potential danger to women. “And the danger to women's lives and to our right to make our own decisions about our bodies and ourselves is so profound,” Clinton said. “And there's another element to it that I find so disturbing. I mean, there's a kind of grit to it. There are no exceptions for rape, incest, right?'

According The Hollywood Reporter, Clarkson became emotional when she opened up about her two pregnancies, during which she said she was hospitalized and feared for her life. “I literally asked God, this is a real thing, to take me and my son to the hospital a second time, because I was like, 'It's the worst thing,'” Clarkson said, apologizing for being overcome with emotion while discussing the difficult births of daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington Alexander, 7, whom she shares with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.

“It was my decision and I'm so glad I did it, I love my babies, but to have someone…” Clarkson added. “And you don't realize how hard it is. The fact that you would take that away from someone, that could literally kill them. The fact that if they're rushed by their family member and have to do that — it's like crazy to me.”

Speaking to the former 2016 presidential candidate, Clarkson then encouraged her viewers to get involved in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, saying that sometimes it's uncomfortable to continue to ignore the importance of voting, but fearing that things could escalate dramatically on issues we could agree on.

“It's hard to preach to someone that you should care about something, but at the same time, I feel like we're going to end up in some kind of — not to sound dramatic but — some kind of civil war over things that I feel like we shouldn't be apart of,” Clarkson said. Clinton agreed and said “all you can do” is try to inform people and let them know that, for example, the Arizona legislature had a vote to try to repeal the 1864 law.

“So there could be a much more sensible approach. He lost. It matters who represents you,” Clinton advised, urging viewers that voting is “your superpower — and it may not seem like it, but it really is.”

The conversation also had some lighter moments, including Clinton talking about the early years of her relationship with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and why Clarkson would never, ever write a memoir.

Watch Clinton and Clarkson below.