In a new interview, the 'Dirty Dancing' actress says that she believes she 'wouldn't have' her life and the career she had if she hadn't had a termination at a young age.
- July 16, 2022
AceShowbiz - Jennifer Grey has weighed in on the overturn of Roe v. Wade. In a new interview, the "Dirty Dancing" actress said that she believes she "wouldn't have" the life she has now if she hadn't had an abortion.
The 62-year-old actress fell pregnant as a teenager and though she admitted it was a "grave decision" to have a termination, she doesn't regret it because she wouldn't have had "anything" now if she'd had a baby at such a young age.
She said, "It's such a grave decision. And it stays with you." She elaborated more, "I wouldn't have my life. I wouldn't have had the career I had, I wouldn't have had anything. And it wasn't for lack of taking it seriously. I'd always wanted a child. I just didn't want a child as a teenager. I didn't want a child where I was [at] in my life."
Jennifer, who has 20-year-old daughter Stella with ex-husband Clark Gregg, is "heartbroken" by the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, which has removed the constitutional right to an abortion.
She told the Los Angeles Times newspaper, "I feel so emotional. Even though I've seen it coming, even though we've been hearing what's coming, it doesn't feel real." She added, "This is just so fundamentally wrong, and it is sounding a bell for all women to rise up and use their voice now because we have assumed, since 1973, that our choice was safe and that it was never going to be overturned."
Jennifer is proud of the way the subject of abortion was tackled in "Dirty Dancing", when Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) underwent an illegal termination, leading to a difficult recovery from a botched procedure. She said, "We saw someone who was hemorrhaging. We saw what happens to people without means -- the haves and the have nots. I love that part of the storyline because it was really a feminist movie in a rom-com. It was a perfect use of history."
