Sally Field has shared heartbreaking details about the illegal abortion she had in Mexico when she was just 17 years old.
The 77-year-old actress, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in September, told the “horrible story” in an Instagram post on Sunday.
“I still feel so embarrassed because I grew up in the ’50s and it’s ingrained in me,” the Mrs. Doubtfire star said on Instagram.
“I have been very hesitant to do this, to tell my horrible story. It was at a time even worse than now. A time when contraceptives were not available and only if you were married.
‘But I feel like a lot of women of my generation went through similar traumatic events, and I feel stronger when I think about them. I think that, like me, they must want to fight for their grandchildren and for all the young women in this country.’
Sally Field has shared heartbreaking details about the illegal abortion she had in Mexico when she was just 17 years old.
Field photographed in 1967 when she was about 20 years old.
He explained that at the time he had “no options, no family support, no finances.”
‘I graduated high school but no one ever said, ‘How was college?’ Nothing. I didn’t know what it was going to be.
“And then I found out I was pregnant.”
She said a family doctor and his wife, who were family friends, took her and her mother in their new Cadillac to Tijuana, Mexico.
In heartbreaking detail, he went on to say: ‘We parked on a street that looks really miserable. It was scary and he parked about three blocks away and said, ‘Do you see that building down there?’
“And he gave me an envelope with cash and I was to go into that building and give them the cash and then come back with it.”
Sally described the abortion, which took place before the now-overturned Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, as “beyond frightening and life-altering.”
The procedure was performed “without anesthesia” and only a “technician gave me a few puffs of ether, but then he took it away, so my arms and legs went strangely numb, but I felt everything: how much pain I felt.” I was in.’
To make matters worse, Field realized that the technician was actually abusing her, so I had to figure out how I could 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, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!’ as if the building was on fire. They didn’t want me there… you know, it was illegal.
The 77-year-old actress, who endorsed presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in September, told the “horrible story” in an Instagram post on Sunday.
To appeal to her audience, the Mrs. Doubtfire star began a video by saying, “I still feel very ashamed (of my abortion) because I grew up in the ’50s and it’s ingrained in me.”
Field credited the family doctor for his “generosity” and “bravery” in helping her, explaining that she “would have lost her license if anyone had found out.”
In her caption, she said reproductive rights are “one of the reasons so many of us support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
‘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!’
Concluding, he wrote: ‘So here is my story. I would be honored if you could tell me yours, if you can.
Field photographed in 2023
Field returned to social media weeks ago when Harris, 59, officially accepted the 2024 presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
She wrote online at the time: “I haven’t been on social media.” Not since it became public toilet paper for our former criminal president. But “hope is returning.” So here I am. This is me.’
In a follow-up post, he continued to encourage his followers to participate in the election.
‘Hope is here. Right in the room with me and my 18-year-old grandson who had just registered to vote. I’m screaming from the top of the highest mountain I can find. Vote for our country, our children and grandchildren. Vote for the land and women and human rights. Vote for democracy. Vote for @kamalaharris and @timwalz. Please dear God,” the caption read.