Sherri Finkbine

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Sherri Finkbine (born as Sherri Chessan, b. 1942) is an American television actress.

Finkbine was known as Miss Sherri on the local Phoenix, Arizona version of the franchised children's show, Romper Room.

In 1962, when Finkbine was pregnant with her fifth child, she had been taking Thalidomide, a drug which if taken by a pregnant woman causes the fetus(es) within her to become deformed while in utero. Finkbine's physician strongly recommended that she obtain a therapeutic abortion, the only type of abortion that was permitted in Arizona at the time. Finkbine contacted a friend at a local newspaper to tell the friend her story, so that other women who were taking Thalidomide would be warned. Following the paper's publication of Finkbine's story, her scheduled abortion was canceled. When Finkbine's physician asked for a court order to proceed with the abortion, Finkbine and her husband became public figures, receiving letters and phone calls in opposition to her requested abortion. A few letters included death threats, and the FBI was brought in to protect her.

Finkbine attempted to go to Japan to obtain the abortion, but was denied a visa by the Japanese Consul [1]. She and her husband then flew to Sweden where she obtained a successful and legal abortion, which caused a minor controversy. The Swedish obstetrician who performed the abortion told Finkbine that the fetus was seriously deformed and would not have survived. Finkbine had another baby soon after.

The incident became a made-for-TV movie in 1992, A Private Matter, with Sissy Spacek in the title role.