Sally Field told the horrific story of the illegal abortion she underwent as a 17-year-old on her way to Tijuana, Mexico, in 1964 to emphasize the importance of voting for the vice presidency Kamala Harris in an Instagram video posted on Sunday.

The 77-year-old Oscar winner recounted the ordeal, which Field described as “this absolute pit of shame,” explaining that she was pregnant and was driven to a “damaged” street in Tijuana by her family doctor, whom she trusted , where she handed her a pregnancy bag full of cash to pay for the procedure. She was only given “a few puffs of ether” during the ordeal, not an anesthetic. “I felt everything, how much pain I was in, and then I realized the technician was actually molesting me,” she said. After the procedure was completed, she was sent away “as if the building was on fire.” They didn’t want me there. It was illegal.”

Field’s big break came the next year, 1965, when she was cast in the title role of ” Device as a courageous “typical American girl next door,” as she described the role. And the shoe fit, although not in the way the public noticed. “I Was “The all-American girl next door because so many young women, my generation of women, have gone through that,” Field explained. “And these are the things that 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.”

As a teenager, Field “had no choice in my life.” Seven years before this milestone, she experienced a traumatic illegal abortion Roe v. Wade Decision and Republicans Donald Trump created a Supreme Court during his presidency to announce a post.roe Epoch. Field originally told the story of her abortion in her 2018 memoir. In piecesbut posted about it on Instagram to reach a different audience. “I feel like so many women of my generation have gone through similar traumatic events, and I feel stronger when I think about them,” she wrote. “I believe that, like me, they want to fight for their grandchildren and all the young women in this country. That’s one of the reasons so many of us support Kamala Harris Tim Waltz.”

In the video, she said: “This is not about how you can go back to this and do this to our little girls and young women without having respect and consideration for their health and their own decisions about whether they feel able to do this.” .” give birth to a child at this point. We can’t go back. We can’t go back. We all have to stand up and fight.”

She urged her followers to talk about their own experiences, writing: “I would be honored if you would tell me your experiences if you can.”