Britney Spears detailed the alleged abuse she has endured when she spoke to a Los Angeles judge on Wednesday. Spears alleges that under the conservatorship that was granted to her father, James P. Spears, she has been drugged, compelled to work against her will and has been prevented from removing her birth control device.
Wednesday was the first time Britney Spears spoke publicly about the conservatorship that was granted to her father in 2008, when issues regarding her mental health and potential drug abuse led him to petition for legal authority over his daughter.
“I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized,” Spears said via phone call, which was broadcasted in the courtroom.
Due to the conservatorship, Spears’ father has control over her personhood and her nearly $60 million fortune.
Spears’ impassioned speech was marked with her insistence that she deserves “to have a life”.
She also made it clear that being forced to stay on birth control impedes on her reproductive rights. “This so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children,” she said. “I want to be able to get married and have a baby”.
Planned Parenthood president and CEO Alexis McGill showed support for Spears via Twitter.
“We stand in solidarity with Britney and all women who face reproductive coercion,” McGill said, in part.
