{"id":248665,"date":"2021-07-09T08:39:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T13:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=248665"},"modified":"2021-07-08T13:52:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T18:52:49","slug":"kate-mulgrew-star-trek-chose-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/kate-mulgrew-star-trek-chose-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Mulgrew, Star Trek’s groundbreaking first female captain, chose life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May 23 of this year marked the 20th anniversary of the airing of Star Trek: Voyager<\/a>\u2019s final episode, ending the run of a beloved Star Trek re-imagining, featuring the franchise\u2019s first female captain and future pop culture icon.<\/p>\n

Kate Mulgrew, who starred as Captain Kathryn Janeway, thought of her role as groundbreaking. \u201cI think it was bold. And I think that they made a timely and rather political move. A gesture that certainly I will never forget and I think [will culturally] serve as a great motivator for women,\u201d she said, according to an ET story<\/a> commemorating the 20-year anniversary.<\/p>\n

Mulgrew certainly has boasting rights to pioneering the iconic role, but it wasn’t her first time as a pioneering role model for women in Hollywood \u2014 and everywhere. As a young actress, Mulgrew faced an unplanned pregnancy in an industry that has for years notoriously encouraged and even celebrated abortions \u2014 and Mulgrew chose life for her daughter, ultimately placing her with an adoptive family.<\/p>\n

In 1977, Mulgrew landed a role as Mary Ryan on the show Ryan\u2019s Hope<\/a>, which chronicled the travails of an Irish-American family in New York City. She was a star of daytime television and one of the most-watched women on TV. And then one day she became unexpectedly pregnant.\u00a0The baby\u2019s father pressured her to end his problem and abort the baby, and Mulgrew\u2019s mother was unable to help her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was single, alone and flooded with terror. But I knew I would have that baby,\u201d Mulgrew said, according to an article she wrote for AARP<\/a>. \u201cSo I decided to give my baby up for adoption. It was a choice, the only one I could make.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: Actress Blake Lively grateful for the \u2018miracle\u2019 of childbirth and breastfeeding<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unusual, in 1977, to be on national television while single and pregnant,\u201d said Mulgrew. \u201cMy agent and many of my friends thought I was making a huge mistake. I offered to quit, but instead, the show’s creator […] wrote my pregnancy into the show\u201d \u2014 an unusual move, for certain, in what has otherwise been described as a Hollywood environment hostile<\/a> to the idea<\/a> of pregnant actresses and musicians<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mulgrew, who grew up in a large Catholic family, turned to Catholic Charities to find a home for her baby. Heart-wrenchingly, just three days<\/em> after delivering her daughter, she was back on set filming a scene in which she was bringing home a baby from the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey handed me this stunt infant and gave me this beautiful monologue,\u201d she said in her AARP article. \u201cMillions of people watched that day. I almost faltered. I remember thinking, \u2018If you cry, you will not stop. So you must not.\u2019”<\/p>\n