RHONYStar Erin Lichy Gets Emotional as She Opens Up About Having an Abortion at Age 18: 'So Terrifying to Me'

Mar. 15, 2025

Erin Lichy.Photo:Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Erin Lichyis sharing her abortion story.

In an interview withGlamour, theReal Housewives of New York Citystar, 37, opened up about finding out she was pregnant with her then-boyfriend at age 18 while in her second week of college.

“I literally remember the feeling washing over me in my dorm bathroom, and I just lost it,” Lichy said. “I was sitting on the floor for maybe an hour and a half hysterically crying, just like, ‘What am I gonna do? Oh my God.’ It was so terrifying to me.”

Too scared to tell her parents and without any close friends at the time to turn to, Lincy turned to Planned Parenthood. “My boyfriend at the time came up, and I had an abortion,” she said, tearing up. “It makes me emotional.”

Bravo viewers saw Lichy’s candid interview withGlamouron theTuesday, Nov. 26 episode ofRHONY.

Erin Lichy.Glamour Magazine

Glamour Magazine

But as Erin said onRHONY, she still thinks about how old her child would be.

She toldGlamourshe found the whole thing so “traumatizing” that she never spoke to her now ex-boyfriend again, despite him being supportive at the time. “Something broke inside me, and I just didn’t even want to have any connection to it,” she said.

About a year later, Erin told her mom, Dorothy Somekh. “The most beautiful part about it was that she said, ‘It happened to me too,’ ” Erin continued, getting emotional. “It felt like women supporting women. Like, even though she’s my mom she wanted me to know… Everybody has a story. I would bet that most girls have a similar story, even if it’s [about using] Plan B.”

The reality star didn’t tell her father, Eliahu Yitzhari, about her abortion for years, but did open up to him about itbefore his death in October. Fans got to see their emotional conversation onRHONY.

“I did wind up discussing my story with my dad, and his response was even more beautiful and heartwarming than I could have ever imagined,” she recalled toGlamour. “I went into this conversation with him hoping for acceptance and support, which I was lucky enough to receive, but beyond that, he gave me friendship. It shows how incredibly supportive he was and how he was such an open-minded man. I love him so much. I will never be able to put into words how much.”

Erin Lichy with her husband Abe and their children.Erin Lichy/Instagram

Erin Lichy/Instagram

“Forget about choice for women like me, but what about someone who’s suffering or has a high-risk pregnancy?” she told the publication. “It goes so far beyond just my experience, and it’s scary. It’s scary to be a woman. If such a fundamental right could be stripped from us, what else can?”

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Insisting she sees abortion as a healthcare issue over a political one, Erin continued, “Look, I’ll say this: I can understand the other side in the sense that life is a precious thing, right? It shouldn’t be a flippant decision. It’s a precious thing.”

“It’s a tough, tough decision… I think it’s really difficult for women, and maybe not everybody talks about that,” she said.

The Real Housewives of New York Cityairs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.

source: people.com