Rita Moreno remembers her failed abortion before Roe v. Wade

• The 90-year-old actress recalls falling pregnant while dating Marlon Brando.
• West Side Story actor says she began bleeding after seeking medical treatment.
• Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for. It is her 2021 documentary.

Rita Moreno described her abortion before Roe v. Wade was overturned this week.

The 90-year-old actress recalls falling pregnant while dating Marlon Brando, who died in 2004.

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On June 24, Moreno said, “Marlon found a doctor through some friends,”  added, “He was a real doctor—Marlon paid him $500—as opposed to something in a back alley.”

West Side Story actor says she began bleeding after seeking medical treatment. The doctor botched the abortion.

As Moreno said, “Marlon took me to the hospital. I had what they told me was a ‘disturbed pregnancy,'” added, “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.”

Moreno has discussed abortion before. Rita Moreno: A Memoir was published in 2011. Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It is her 2021 documentary.

She further added, “I can see that thing happening now and going back to back alleys,” she said. “I’m really nervous and frightened and horrified that this is taking place. I can’t believe that some of those people are telling us what to do with our bodies.”

Then, “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.”

Moreno remembers feeling “jubilant” when Roe v. Wade established women’s constitutional right to abortion, but now she feels “depressed” after the Supreme Court overturned the ruling.

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“Hilary Clinton warned everybody about this,” she said. “I’m not shocked because I saw it coming but I’m stunned.”

Moreno isn’t discouraged by the loss.

“We loud mouths are going to have to get busy,” Moreno said. “There are many of us. I’m thinking what are we going to do about this? If anything, this has reactivated us.”