Jennifer Grey wasn't sure she wanted to keep our appointment. A few hours before, the news alerts had begun flooding in: In a 6-to-3 ruling, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating a constitutional right to abortion that had existed for nearly 50 years. And there's no handbook that explains how to promote a memoir the day such a seismic ruling comes down.
"I feel so emotional," Grey says. "Even though I've seen it coming, even though we've been hearing what's coming, it doesn't feel real."
Movie viewers already know Grey as the star of "Dirty Dancing," the 1987 film best remembered for that famous lift and Grey's steamy chemistry with co-star Patrick Swayze. But the film — set in 1963, a decade before Roe v. Wade — features a powerful pro-choice message within its foes-to-lovers coming-of-age story. Penny (Cynthia Rhodes), a dancer at the resort where Frances "Baby" Houseman (Grey) and her family are staying, is faced with an unplanned pregnancy. To help fund Penny's (illegal) abortion, Baby borrows money from her unsuspecting father; Baby's father, a doctor, later helps Penny recover from the botched procedure.
