In a new episode of PBS NewsHour’s Facebook Watch show “That Moment When,” Ms. co-founder Gloria Steinem looks back on her activist career—and remembers the abortion that “catapulted” her into feminism.
“For the first time in my life, I heard women stand up in public and take seriously something that only happened to women,” Steinem recalls in the video. “That was a moment of revelation, because suddenly I realized that one in three American women had needed an abortion at some time in her life, including me.”
Until recently, Steinem had never publicly thanked the doctor who allowed her the freedom to steer her own future. Steinem goes on to read the dedication of her memoir, My Life on the Road, to host Steve Goldbloom—one she could never write until long after he had died.
“He said, you must promise me two things,” Steinem recites. “First, you will not tell anybody my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.”
