Sherri Chessen on her 1962 abortion, and the fate of Roe

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

In 1962 Sherri Chessen was a married mother of four, and star of "Romper Room," a children's TV show in Phoenix, where she was known as Miss Sherri, when she became pregnant. To treat morning sickness, she took a sedative her husband, Bob Finkbine, brought back from Britain.

That drug, she later discovered, contained thalidomide, a chemical linked to severe birth defects. "What I did was poison myself with a drug whose name I didn't even know," she said in a 1998 interview.

Not wanting to bring a child with a congenital disorder into their family, Sherri and Bob opted for an abortion, which at the time was only available in rare cases.

-snip-

Soon, Chessen's painful story was in the pages of Life Magazine, and the nation began to ponder the deeper complexities of abortion and a woman's choice. Eventually a hospital in Sweden promised to provide the abortion. So, the couple flew to Stockholm, their every move covered by an aggressive press corps.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sherri-chessen-on-her-1962-abortion-and-the-fate-of-roe/ar-AAZ8VS2

[crickets]

1. I remember Romper Room.

I don't remember hearing about this, but I was too young then to understand even if I had. Chessen, of course, lost her job. She lost the job after that for *drumroll* getting pregnant.

"I remember waking up after the operation and saying to the Swedish doctor, 'Was the baby a boy or girl?' And he said, 'It was not a baby. It was an abnormal growth that never would be a normal child.'"
(snip)

"The Supreme Court may be surprised to know there is light in what they've done: they have empowered women everywhere. I feel it. My granddaughters feel it. Added to all of that is a great dose of anger, and we as women, I will say it again and again, we shall prevail."

Thank you for your unwavering courage and voice, Sherri Chessen.

[kskiska]

2. Yes, I remember this very well and have posted about it in the past.

Her name at the time was Sherri Finkbine. She was scheduled for a therapeutic abortion due to her taking a drug containing thalidomide, that caused deformities in babies. Once it hit the press the procedure was canceled. She eventually had to travel to Sweden for an abortion and the child was indeed severely deformed.

The case was a tremendous news story and the media reported it day by day.

[crickets]

3. The effects of thalidomide on a fetus were a horror.

Chessen absolutely did the right thing to speak up. The shame was in the way she was treated for having done so.

[PlanetBev]

4. I remember this so well

I was eleven and it was all over the news. It was the first time in my life that I came to understand what abortion was. Life magazine had a story and several photos of Thalidomide babies. I was freaked out by the pictures of babies with no
arms and legs and thinking “You mean they didn’t have to be born like that?” I remember hearing on my transistor radio that the Swedish doctor said the fetus was “hideously deformed.”

19 years later, I was at a Planned Parenthood luncheon in Los Angeles and Sherri Chessen was the speaker.