'I could have died': Rita Moreno reveals BOTCHED abortion with then-boyfriend Marlon Brando
Rita Moreno is speaking up about her personal abortion experience as well as her concern for women who would be pressured to have unsafe abortions following the overturning of Roe v Wade. With a 6-3 decision on Friday, June 24, the Supreme Court reversed the historic 1973 judgment and repealed the constitutional right to an abortion.
Moreno, 90, spoke about her abortion experience after learning she was expecting with her then-boyfriend Marlon Brando. According to the 'West Side Story' actress, she became pregnant prior to the Roe v Wade decision, which guaranteed women the right to an abortion in every state, reported Variety. Brando advised her to get an abortion and "found a doctor through some friends," she informed the news outlet. "He was a real doctor — Marlon paid him $500 — as opposed to something in a back alley." She was bleeding once she got home, and she subsequently learned the abortion wasn't complete.
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She recalled being "jubilant" when Roe v Wade initially made abortions legal, but now claims that she is "depressed" by the Supreme Court's ruling. "Marlon took me to the hospital. I had what they told me was a 'disturbed pregnancy,'" Moreno recalled. "The doctor didn't do anything really, except make me bleed. In other words, he didn't do it right. I didn't know it then, but I could have died. What a mess. What a dreadful mess." Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch, all of whom were chosen by President Trump, supported the 78-page ruling.
"Hilary Clinton warned everybody about this," the star told the outlet. "I'm not shocked because I saw it coming but I'm stunned." Moreno continued, "I think about the young girls. Taking it to the most extreme, girls who get pregnant because of rape or incest. Unfair isn't a strong enough word, but it's unfair." She declared that she was prepared "to get busy" with her fellow "loud mouths" to something about it. "There are many of us. I'm thinking what are we going to do about this? If anything, this has reactivated us."
The Supreme Court's decision overturns almost 50 years of precedent and will fundamentally alter women's reproductive rights by granting individual states the authority to determine whether to permit the operation. It is predicted that in the upcoming months, close to half of the nation would implement near-total restrictions on abortion. With most blue states permitting abortion and most Republican ones severely restricting it, the decision will create a rift in the nation.
"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. "The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives," Alito wrote.