RHONY Star Erin Lichy Gets Emotional as She Opens Up About Having an Abortion at Age 18

Erin Lichy is sharing her abortion story.

In an interview with Glamour, the Real Housewives of New York City star, 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 with Glamour on the Tuesday, Nov. 26 episode of RHONY.

The real estate agent and entrepreneur is now a mom of three, sharing sons Levi, 9, Elijah, 4, and daughter Layla, 7, with her husband, Abe Lichy. The couple are currently expecting another baby.

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

She told Glamourshe 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 it before his death in October. Fans got to see their emotional conversation on RHONY.

“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 to Glamour. “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.”

As for why she decided to tell her story now, Erin said she was inspired by the landmark overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“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?”

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.