Sally Field recently opened up about the “horrific” and “traumatic” illegal abortion she underwent as a 17-year-old in 1964, as she urged voters to support Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The Oscar-winning actress first revealed the story of her abortion in her 2018 memoir In Pieces but confessed in a recent Instagram video that she had long hesitated to share her painful experience.
“It was during an even worse time than now,” she wrote. “A time when contraception wasn’t readily available unless you were married. But I know that so many women from my generation went through similar, traumatic experiences, and I feel stronger when I think of them. I believe, like me, they want to fight for their granddaughters and all the young women in this country.”
In the video, Field admitted she still feels “deep shame” about the abortion because of the time she grew up in—the conservative 1950s. At just 17, she found herself pregnant in 1964, nine years before the landmark Roe v. Wade case legalized abortion in the U.S., a right that remained until the Supreme Court overturned it in June 2022.
Field shared that at the time, she had no choice and very little family support. A family friend, who was a doctor, drove her, her mother, and his wife to Tijuana, Mexico, for the abortion.
“We parked on a grimy street, it was scary, and he parked about three blocks away,” Field recalled. “He pointed to a building and said, ‘Do you see that building down there?’ He handed me an envelope full of cash and told me to go in, give them the money, and come right back.”
Field recounted that she believed the doctor traveled with them in case she didn’t survive. The procedure, she said, was brutal and performed without anesthesia.
“There was a technician who gave me a few sniffs of ether, but then he took it away, so my arms and legs were numb, but I felt everything—I felt so much pain,” she said.
The ordeal took a darker turn when she realized the technician was harassing her. She explained, “I had to think, how can I get my hands to move to push him away? I felt like I was drowning in a pit of absolute shame.”
Once the procedure was finished, she was hurried out of the building. “They said, ‘Go, go, go, go!’ like the building was on fire. They didn’t want me there—you know, it was illegal.”
Field expressed gratitude to the family doctor who risked his medical license to take her to Mexico. Reflecting on the ordeal, she noted that before that trip, she had never left her home state or even flown on a plane.
Just months after the illegal abortion, Field started auditioning for acting roles and eventually landed her breakout part in Gidget.
“These are the things women are still going through today—trying to travel to other states, not having the money, not knowing where to go,” Field continued. “It’s unimaginable to put our little girls and young women through this. To have no respect or regard for their health or their ability to decide whether they can have a child at that moment in their lives.”
In her video caption, Field urged voters to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, or anyone advocating for initiatives that protect reproductive freedom. “PLEASE. WE CANNOT GO BACK!!!” she emphasized.
Field has been a vocal supporter of Kamala Harris, previously endorsing her candidacy when Joe Biden stepped down. In an interview with Variety in July, Field said she was “so grateful” to the outgoing president and that she backed Harris “with all her heart.”
Polls have long indicated that most Americans support abortion access, yet many Republican-led state legislatures continue to push for restrictions, citing conservative religious beliefs. While the Roe v. Wade decision was overturned two years after Donald Trump’s presidency, three Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump contributed to the conservative majority that struck down the historic ruling. Fears have since grown that a second Trump presidency would further erode women’s reproductive rights.
Interestingly, Trump’s wife, Melania, recently revealed in her new memoir that she is a passionate supporter of women’s right to choose, writing, “Women must have autonomy in deciding whether to have children, based on their own beliefs, without any interference or pressure from the government.”
