Following the Supreme Court’s historic overturning of Roe v. Wade this week, Rita Moreno detailed her own experience of having an abortion, long before the 1973 landmark ruling.
In an interview with Variety, the 90-year-old actress recalled getting pregnant while she was dating Hollywood iconMarlon Brando, who died in 2004
“Marlon found a doctor through some friends,” Moreno shared on June 24. “He was a real doctor—Marlon paid him $500—as opposed to something in a back alley.”
Despite seeking real medical help, the West Side Storystar said she began to bleed once she returned home. As it turned out, the doctor didn’t complete the abortion procedure.
“Marlon took me to the hospital. I had what they told me was a ‘disturbed pregnancy,'” Moreno said. “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.”