Actress Rita Moreno has responded to the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade by sharing her experience of being coerced into an abortion by actor Marlon Brando.

Rita Moreno, famed for her role as Anita in West Side Story, has recalled in an interview that Marlon Brando, whom she was dating, was not keen on being a father and forced her into an abortion after making her pregnant.

She said: “Marlon took me to the hospital. I had what they told me was a ‘disturbed pregnancy’. 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.”

Abortion and coerced abortion can have a serious psychological impact on the women involved, and Moreno was no different.

Writing in her 2011 memoir, Moreno recalled that the abortion made her suicidal: “I tried to end my life with pills in his house. I didn’t understand that if I was going to kill this pathetic, sad, trod-upon Rita, the rest of Rita was also going to go with me. I really didn’t seem to understand that.”

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “A devastating BBC poll recently found that 15% of all British women had experienced pressure or coercion to have an abortion that they did not want.

“Despite this shocking figure, abortion apologists do not want abortion coercion talked about because it does not suit their false narrative of ‘choice’.

“But SPUC is determined to speak out on behalf of the women who are damaged by this very real and pervasive issue.

“Please visit our campaign page on abortion and coercion and consider signing our petition calling on the Government to take this urgent issue seriously and take action against abusers.”

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