Jessica Chastain credits Planned Parenthood for giving her ‘a choice’: ‘ It had a great impact on my life’

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

Jessica Chastain has credited Planned Parenthood for having “a great impact on [her] life” by enabling her to access birth control when she was younger.

The actor told The Times in a recent interview that she was “the first person in [her] family to not be pregnant when [she] was 17”.

She added of Planned Parenthood: “It had a great impact on my life because it gave me choice.”

The newspaper noted that Chastain went to Planned Parenthood as a young woman for birth control pills, and continues to support the organisation now.

Established in 1916 in New York, Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organisation that provides sexual and reproductive healthcare services and education.

Chastain, who has two children with her husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, highlighted the importance of fathers in the same interview.

“Right now, as a society, I don’t believe we value fathers as much as we should,” she said. “I think we have to understand that — and this is tough as a woman to say this — the father relationship is just as important as the mother relationship.

“And men need to acknowledge that women are just as important in the workforce. And so, once we get more balance in both the workforce and in terms of raising children, I think that’s how we create healthier and happier human beings.”