ADVOCATE: Sarah Thompson received a surgical abortion 51 years ago, when she was 17 years old. | Brian Chilson
“I remember the day that Roe passed. I was a sophomore in college, and I remember saying to myself, ‘If they ever try to take this away, I’m going to go chain myself to the steps of the Supreme Court.’”
Sarah Thompson hasn’t done that yet, but she has spent several years advocating for safe and accessible abortions by protesting, contributing to groups that support women’s right to choose and monthly donations. The advocacy Thompson does today as a 68-year-old woman is because of the decision she made during the summer of 1971, before Roe v. Wade was made law.
Before the landmark case protected women for half a century, many were forced to travel hundreds of miles — or to perform dangerous methods of self-induction — when they could not obtain local legal abortions. Now, with the law overturned, and abortions banned in Arkansas, many women and people who can become pregnant could find themselves in similar situations.
“I have always been so adamant that no little girl in Little Rock should have to go through what I did,” she said.
MEMORIES: To this day, Thompson can recall specific details of leaving Little Rock for the procedure in the summer of 1971. | Brian Chilson
Although it happened 51 years ago, the details remain ingrained in Thompson’s mind.
Thompson got pregnant shortly after her 1971 high school graduation. She was 17, lived in Little Rock with her parents and was preparing to move to Fayetteville for school at the University of Arkansas. Her period was “clock-work regular,” and after missing one, Thompson saw an OB-GYN in the city who confirmed she was about eight weeks pregnant.
After her doctor’s visit, Thompson told her mother she was pregnant while they watched afternoon soap operas. She told her father when he got home from work. Abortion was illegal in Arkansas at the time and together, they decided to travel to New York — 1,200 miles away from home — for the procedure.
She wore a white, blue floral patterned dress on the plane with her mother from Little Rock to New York. It was sleeveless and stopped above-the-knee. Thompson and her mother walked on the tarmac into the plane because the enclosed walkways were not yet regular.
She was wearing nail polish, which she was later asked to remove for the procedure. She only had enough remover to clean three fingers on her right hand, she said.
The atmosphere was not warm and fuzzy. Her mother paid with a traveler’s check, but Thompson does not know how much it cost. She was sedated for the surgery and kept overnight.
Afterward, three other women were in the room with her; one was from Florida and wore fake eyelashes. The hospital window was open; she could see the East River.
Thompson and her mother stayed a few nights before returning home to Arkansas. Once back, her mother helped her get on birth control. Thompson told her dad to sell the new car that had been a graduation gift.
“I remember my mother saying, ‘We will never speak of this again.’ We never did,” Thompson said.
When she went to college, she told lies to cover for her procedure — kidney infections, the car using up too much oil. Until a few years ago, most of Thompson’s family didn’t know about her abortion.
“I have always felt extremely fortunate that I was able to get on with my life — get my degree, and my master’s degree,” she said. “I’ve been married 42 years. I have a 38-year-old son. It did not ruin my life. If anything, it made me more determined to be responsible.”
SUPPORT: Thompson is an advocate for safe abortions for people who can become pregnant in Arkansas. | Brian Chilson
Thompson said she is “terrified” for the young women in Arkansas who will live in a post-Roe v. Wade world. She said she is concerned with a lack of sexual health education in public schools, and how access to resources will be limited.
“I’m ready to drive somebody,” she said. “I’m ready to donate. I’m ready to assist in any way that I can. Legally, it’s a minefield. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen.”
Thompson said she donates monthly to several groups, including the Arkansas Abortion Support Network, Progressive Arkansas Women’s PAC and Emerge Arkansas. She has been on the board for the Arkansas Coalition for Reproductive Justice and various Planned Parenthood boards.
When she looks toward the future of women’s reproductive rights in Arkansas, Thompson said her “heart breaks for them.”