Beloved Hollywood actress Sally Field has spoken candidly about the time she had an ”illegal” abortion at the age of 17.
The Mrs. Doubtfire star, 77shared an emotional video on Instagram on Monday with her followers in a bid to protect reproductive freedom in the United States.
In her moving video, Field says she still feels ‘shame’ around the abortion and describes it as “beyond hideous and life-altering”.
Watch the video above.
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“I still feel very ashamed about it because I was raised in the ’50s, and it’s ingrained in me,” she said.
“I was 17 and had no choices in my life. I didn’t have a lot of family support or finances. I graduated high school but no-one ever said, ‘How about college?’ Nothing. I didn’t know what I was gonna be.
“And then I found out I was pregnant.”
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She said a family friend who was a doctor drove her to a place with his wife and her mother to have the abortion.
“It was scary and he parked about three blocks away and said, ‘See that building down there?’ And he gave me an envelope with cash and I was to walk into that building and give them the cash and then come right back to him,” she recalled.
Sally Field through the years: 1946 to 2021
“It was beyond hideous and life-altering. I felt everything,” she said, explaining there was no anesthetic during the procedure.
”I realized that the technician was actually molesting me, so I had to figure out, how can I make my arms move to push him away? So it was just this absolute pit of shame. And then, when it was finished, they said, ‘Go go go go go!’, like the building was on fire. And they didn’t want me there, you know, it was illegal!”
The star then said it was ”fate” that she started auditioning and eventually became an actress.
Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States, but it was recently overturned.
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In the caption of the video, she wrote, “I feel that so many women of my generation went through similar, traumatic events and I feel stronger when I think of them.”
“I believe, like me, they must want to fight for their grandchildren and all the young women of this country…. PLEASE. WE CAN’T GO BACK!!”
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counseling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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