Sally Field says she was sexually assaulted when she underwent illegal abortion at 17

Oscar winning actress Sally Field had a "horrific story" to share as she revealed she had an illegal abortion at 17 and was sexually assaulted by a technician during the procedure

Legendary actress Sally Field has opened up about the "horrific" illegal abortion she underwent at just 17 years old. 

The Oscar-winning actress, now 77, shared her traumatic experience which occurred before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court, a ruling that was overturned in 2022. In an emotional Instagram video, she expressed her support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and other candidates who could safeguard reproductive freedom.

She wrote in the caption: "I've been so hesitant to do this, to tell my horrific story. It was during a time even worse than now. A time when contraception was not readily available and only if you were married." She continued: "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."

In the video, she said: "I had no choices in my life; I didn't have a lot of family support or finances. I had graduated high school, but no one ever said, 'How about college? '" She added: "Nothing. I didn't know what was gonna be. And then I found out I was pregnant... I still feel very shamed about it because I was raised in the '50s, and it's ingrained in me."

Sally recounted how a family friend, who was a doctor, accompanied her and her mother to Mexico for the procedure. She recounted her harrowing experience: "We parked on a really scrungy-looking street, 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 had "no anesthetic" for the procedure, besides a "technician giving me a few puffs of ether", which gave her a sense of numbness but didn't stop the pain. She claimed that during the procedure, she was sexually assaulted by the technician, leaving her in an "absolute pit of shame".

Sally continued: "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." Reflecting on the current situation since Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago, she warned that women are now facing similar "hideous" ordeals.

She expressed her dismay, saying: "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."

* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

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