Sally Field Reveals She's Voting For Kamala Harris After Sharing Her 'Traumatic' Illegal Abortion Experience
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on October 7, 2024 at 12:15 PM EDT
Sally Field is candidly reflecting on her past as she opens up about her experience with an illegal abortion in 1964, a topic she feels is especially relevant as the political election quickly approaches.
With the 2024 presidential race heating up, Field is shedding light on the struggles many women faced before the legalization of abortion, emphasizing the urgency of safeguarding reproductive rights today.
In a social media video, Sally Field highlighted the trauma and challenges she endured, urging a deeper conversation about women's rights and the implications of the upcoming election.
Sally Field Reveals Details Of 'Traumatic' Abortion In 1964
The 77-year-old actress shared in a video on her Instagram grid on Sunday, October 6, revealing that when she was just 17, she discovered she was pregnant, which left her feeling "shamed" because she "was raised in the '50s."
"I had no choices in my life. I didn't have a lot of family support or finance," she said. "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."
She said her family doctor, "who was a friend of the family," drove Field, his wife, and her mother "in their brand-new Cadillac, to Tijuana."
"And we parked on a really scroungy-looking street, 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 added.
Sally Field Received Abortion With 'No Anesthetic'
As she recalled the emotional and traumatic incident, Field told her fans that she "had no anesthetic" during the "beyond hideous and life-altering" procedure.
However, "There was a technician giving me a few puffs of ether, but he would then take it away, so it just made my arms and legs feel numb weird, but I felt everything — how much pain I was in," she added.
But "the situation turned darker" as she "realized that the technician was actually molesting [her]."
"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," she continued. "And they didn't want me there, you know, it was illegal!"
Sally Field Says 'We Can't Go Back' To When 'Contraception Was Not Readily Available'
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The actress then went on to talk about Roe v. Wade, a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1973 that established a woman's legal right to have an abortion. The case was brought by "Jane Roe," a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey, who challenged Texas laws that prohibited abortion except to save a woman's life.
"And these are the things that women are going through now — when they're trying to get to another state, they don't have the money, they don't have the means, they don't know where they're going," Sally Field told her fans. "And it's beyond, how you can go back to that and do that to our little girls and our young women, and not have respect and regard for their health and their own decisions about whether they feel they're able to give birth to a child at that time."
"We can't go back. We have to all stand up and fight. And that was that lovely story," she continued.
Sally Field Is Voting For Kamala Harris And Tim Walz
Field went on to say that the abortion issue is "one of the reasons why so many of us are supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz" in the upcoming election.
"Everyone, please, pay attention to this election, up and down the ballot, in every state — especially those with ballot initiatives that could protect reproductive freedom. PLEASE. WE CAN’T GO BACK!!" she told her followers, adding that she would "be honored" to hear others' stories, if they are willing to share.
Kamala Harris On Roe v. Wade
Kamala Harris has been outspoken about Roe v. Wade, claiming, "we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do."
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.