Sally Field has shared her traumatic experience of getting an abortion in Mexico as a teenager, emphasising her support for Kamala Harris.
In a personal post on Instagram, the Forrest Gump and Lincoln star detailed her harrowing experience, imploring people to support the Democratic candidate for president and other politicians that argue for the protection of reproductive freedom.
“I’ve been so hesitant to do this, to tell my horrific story,” she captioned the post. “It was during a time even worse than now. A time when contraception was not readily available and only if you were married. But 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.”
“It’s one of the reasons why so many of us are supporting 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!!”
In the video, Field tells the story of being 17 in 1964 – before the establishment of Roe v Wade – and becoming pregnant. A family doctor drove her to Tijuana, Mexico and directed her to a building. She describes the ensuing procedure as “life-altering”, and explains that she was not given a full anaesthetic.
“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 and weird. But I felt everything, how much pain I was in, and then I realized that the technician was actually molesting me,” she said. “So I had to figure out, how can I make my arms move to push him away? And, you know, so it was just, you know, this absolute pit of shame.”
She praised her family doctor for risking his licence in taking her there, and shared how she landed her first major role later that year, in the sitcom Gidget.
“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, that they don’t know where they’re going,” she concluded. “We can’t go back. We have to all stand up and fight.”
In 2022, the US Supreme Court overruled the Roe v Wade decision of 1973 that protected women’s rights to have an abortion. That constitutional right was reversed by the overrule on the grounds that the right to abortion was not “deeply rooted in this nation’s history or tradition”. Several artists, including Madonna, Fiona Apple, Billie Eilish and Lorde have been very outspoken about the controversial decision.
Stevie Nicks recently released her powerful song ‘The Lighthouse’, which was inspired by the US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade. The former Fleetwood Mac singer said the song might be “the most important thing I ever do”.
In addition to Field, countless other artists have officially endorsed the Harris/Walz presidential ticket for the upcoming election, including Bruce Springsteen, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, P!nk, Bon Iver, Quavo, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.
Michael Stipe and Jason Isbell also played R.E.M. songs together at a Harris campaign concert last week, throwing their weight behind the Democratic candidate.
The election will be held on November 5.
In other Field news, she recently revealed for the first time that Robin Williams changed the filming order of 1993’s Mrs Doubtfire so that she could leave the project after her father died.
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