Decades ago, Marlon Brando paid for then-girlfriend Rita Moreno to receive an abortion, years before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Speaking with Variety recently, EGOT holder (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony winner) Moreno recalled Brando taking her to a California doctor to undergo the procedure. “He was a real doctor — Marlon paid him $500 — as opposed to something in a back alley,” she told the publication.
When Moreno returned home after the operation she said she then began to bleed. The doctor had not performed a full abortion. “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,” she said.
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Moreno went on to discuss Friday’s Supreme Court overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade case saying she can foresee people having to go through ulterior channels to receive abortions now saying, “I can see that thing happening now and going to back alleys. I’m really nervous and frightened and horrified that this is taking place.” She continued saying she simply can’t believe the Supreme Court is “telling us what to do with our bodies.”
While she is downtrodden about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling the “West Side Story” actress is not shocked and plans to forge ahead. “We loud mouths are going to have to get busy,” she said. “There are many of us. I’m thinking what are we going to do about this? If anything, this has reactivated us.”
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Moreno most recently appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of “West Side Story.” The actress won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1962 for her work in the original film.