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“I was paralyzed, I was terrified, I couldn’t run away, I couldn’t hide. I didn’t know where I was… I was 19, I wasn’t ready to have a child.” For Brut, Elizabeth Stone recounts the illegal abortion she experienced in the 1960s, when abortion was banned in the United States.
On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ended Roe v. Wade, historic judgment which allowed women in the country to have an abortion. From now on, each State of the country is able to authorize or not, the right of access to the IVG. For Elizabeth Stone, it is important to share her story and remember the horror of clandestine abortions.
Elizabeth Stone was 19 when she found out she was pregnant. Too young to keep it, she then decided to find a way to have an illegal abortion in her country, while the Roe v. Wade will not come into force until 9 years later. It is thanks to word of mouth that the young woman ends up finding a clinic. “Someone slipped a piece of paper under my dorm room door. On it was a phone number in New Jersey. I never knew who slipped it under my door, but I knew what it was”.
She goes four days later to Rahway, New Jersey, where she is picked up by car by a driver. “He checked the 500 dollars. He nodded, opened the door for me, and I sat in the back of the car. there were already two other women. We left in silence”, recalls Elizabeth. For her, it is now essential to share her experience. “We weren’t talking about trauma back then. But what we know today is that traumatic memories remain extremely clear for a very long time..”