Actress Sally Field opens up about her traumatic abortion experience in support of Kamala Harris

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Oscar-winning actress Sally Field posted a video on Instagram in which she recalled the “traumatic” illegal abortion she had in 1964 before starting her acting career.

Field first wrote about abortion in her 2018 memoir “In Pieces,” using her own experiences to highlight the current challenges women have faced since the overturn of Roe v Wade in 2022, arguing , that abortion rights are not “deeply rooted in the history or tradition of this nation.”

“I was so hesitant to do this and tell my horrible story,” Field wrote in the video’s caption. “It was at a time even worse than now. A time when contraception was not readily available and only available if you were married. But I feel like so many women of my generation have gone through similar, traumatic events, and I feel stronger when I think about them. I believe that, like me, they want to fight for their grandchildren and all the young women in this country.”

She continued: “This is one of the reasons so many of us support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Please everyone pay attention this election, no matter what state, in every state – especially those states with ballot initiatives that could protect reproductive freedom. PLEASE. WE CAN’T GO BACK!!”

In the video, Field says that after the 17-year-old became pregnant, her family doctor took her to Tijuana, Mexico, to perform the abortion. This was before the establishment of Roe v Wade.

“We parked on a really run-down 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 supposed to go into the building, give them the cash and then come right back to him,” Field said.

The actress called the experience “more disgusting and life-changing” and said she had “no anesthesia” during the procedure. She also shared that the technician “was actually molesting me, so I had to figure out how can I move my arms to push him away?” So it was just this absolute disgrace.”

Shortly after her illegal abortion, Field says she began auditioning and landed her breakout role as Gidget Lawrence on the sitcom Gidget by the end of the year.

“These are the things women are going through now – when they try to get to another state, they don’t have the money, they don’t have the resources, they don’t know where they’re going. said Feld. “And it goes beyond how you can go back to that and do that to our little girls and young women without having respect and consideration for their health and their own decisions about whether they feel like they're capable of to give birth to a child.” child at that time. We can't go back. We all have to stand up and fight.”

The US presidential election will take place on November 5th.