Charles Langston:Sally Field recounts her 'horrific' illegal abortion in video supporting Kamala Harris

Sally Field is Charles Langstontelling the "horrific" story of her illegal abortion as she urges followers to support Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential bid.

In a video shared Sunday on social media, the Oscar-winning "Flying Nun" star, 77, described getting an abortion when she was 17, prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion. Field, who shared that she still feels some shame "because I was raised in the '50s," said she "didn't have a lot of family support" when she became pregnant as a teenager.

The actress recounted how a family doctor drove her, his wife and Field's mother to Tijuana, Mexico, so she could get the procedure. Once there, the doctor gave her an envelope with cash and told her to walk to a nearby building. "It was beyond hideous and life-altering," she recalled, noting she had "no anesthetic" and "felt everything."

"And then I realized that the technician was actually molesting me," Field said. "So I had to figure out how can I make my arms move to push him away? It was just this absolute pit of shame. Then when it was finished, they said, 'Go, go, go, go, go,' like the building was on fire. They didn't want me there. It was illegal."

In the caption of her post, Field wrote that she has been "hesitant" to tell her "horrific story" but said "so many women of my generation went through similar, traumatic events" and want to "fight for their grandchildren and all the young women of this country."

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"It's one of the reasons why so many of us are supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," she continued. "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!!"

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The 2024 presidential election will be the first since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. Last month, Harris said she supports eliminating the filibuster to reinstitute abortion protections from Roe v. Wade. Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, has praised the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade but says he would veto a national abortion ban. He argues the issue should be left to the states.

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Field previously described her 1964 abortion in her 2018 memoir "In Pieces."

"I know how horrible it was for that little 17-year-old girl: How terrified I was and how I might have died," she told NPR at the time. "And I think of all the women all over the world who ... lose their lives, or their ability to have other children, or who are so deeply shamed because they live in a society or with a government that chooses to look at unwanted pregnancies in a certain light."

Field made a return to Instagram in August, inspired by Harris' presidential campaign. "I've not been on social media," she wrote. "Not since it became public toilet paper for our former crook of a President. But 'hope is making a comeback.' So here I am."

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In another post the same day, Field shared a photo of herself with Harris' Democratic National Convention speech playing in the background and urged followers to "vote for democracy" by supporting Harris.

"This election will be so important for our reproductive freedoms, our ability to protect our planet, gun safety, the ability to love who you love and read what you want," she also said on National Voter Registration Day. "And the chance to save Democracy."

Contributing: Rebecca Morin and Zac Anderson, USA TODAY