Gloria Steinem, the writer and longtime feminist activist, died Wednesday at age 92. A day later, USA Today published an article by books reporter Clare Mulroy highlighting what the piece called Steinem’s “touching tribute” to the doctor who arranged her abortion in 1957, when the procedure was illegal in Britain.
The USA Today article, headlined “Gloria Steinem’s touching tribute to doctor who made her abortion possible,” describes the dedication in Steinem’s 2015 memoir “My Life on the Road” as some of her “most moving work.” The dedication thanks Dr. John Sharpe, a London-based physician who referred Steinem for an abortion when she was 22 and on her way to India for a fellowship focused on nonviolent protest and grassroots activism.
In the memoir, Steinem wrote that Sharpe took “the considerable risk of referring for an abortion a twenty-two-year-old American on her way to India,” a decade before English doctors could legally perform abortions for reasons other than a woman’s health.
“Knowing only that she had broken an engagement at home to seek an unknown fate, he said, ‘You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.’ Dear Dr. Sharpe, I believe you, who knew the law was unjust, would not mind if I say this so long after your death: I’ve done the best I could with my life. This book is for you.”
Steinem read that dedication aloud during a CNN appearance in 2022, saying at the time, “I think there are women and men across this country saying thank you to physicians who recognize individual rights.”
Steinem is widely credited with coining the phrase “reproductive freedom” as part of her decades of advocacy for legal abortion access.
The USA Today article has drawn criticism from conservative outlets, including Breitbart News, which characterized the piece as praising Steinem’s abortion provider. USA Today did not immediately respond to a request for comment cited in that reporting.
