NEW YORK — In a rare exclusive interview, Gennifer Flowers, who says she had a 12-year affair with Bill Clinton, opened up about what she described as the experience of having an abortion after she says she found out she was pregnant with Clinton’s child.
Flowers stated that Clinton personally paid $200 for the abortion in 1977, and she revealed that she was made aware that Hillary Clinton knew that same year about the alleged affair, which Flowers says continued another eleven years or so.
Flowers described the abortion as “psychologically a horrible thing to go through,” and “not only physically painful but it was very psychologically painful.”
Flowers was speaking in an hour-long emotional interview set to air Sunday on this reporter’s talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” broadcast on New York’s AM 970 The Answer and NewsTalk 990 AM.
Listen to the audio here:
In the 1990’s there were some reports that Flowers had had an abortion. She mentioned the detail in her 1995 book, “Passion and Betrayal.”
In our interview, Flowers, the former local news reporter and singer, provided new details about what she says was the abortion experience, including Bill Clinton’s alleged involvement in helping her get through the process.
She stated:
“Interesting story. I was a news reporter at the time. I also had a little show, a little for your information show and I had on the lady who was running the abortion clinic because needless to say it was very controversial in town. And I had had her on my show. Well, little did I know at that very moment I was actually pregnant. Well that was in 1977. And I found out later after that interview. And I told her, you know, to arrange something hopefully that was sort of private.
“But yes, I told him (Bill Clinton). And deep down I wanted to hear him say okay well I’m going to get a divorce and we’ll have this baby and everything is going to be fine. And the first words out of his mouth were, ‘Well you know I will pay for an abortion.’
“And of course my heart sunk. And then the reality you know hit me right in the face. That he was married and he was going to stay married. And that’s the way it was. So I thought fine. I wasn’t prepared to have a baby and raise it on my own so I decided to go ahead and have the abortion.”
Flowers recounted what she said were the emotional and physical effects of the abortion:
“It was not only physically painful but it was very psychologically painful. Because I love him. And it was really psychologically a horrible thing to go through. I remember after the procedure was done I went into a room. I was sitting there and I just started sobbing and it seemed like the subs came from my stomach and up. It was the deepest sobs that I’ve ever done. And anyway like I said it was a horrible experience in every way.
“…When I drove into the clinic there were protesters. And I was afraid somebody was going to recognize me as a news reporter. And anyway, got inside and then at a point you know I had the procedure. And I was able to be alone in a room.”
She said Clinton paid $200 for the abortion procedure.
I asked whether she was certain that the baby was his.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “Which I find amusing when I hear the stories that Bill supposedly can’t have kids. To that point he and Hillary didn’t have any children. Didn’t have Chelsea yet. And he had told me that he didn’t think that he could have kids. And that was why I was more casual with birth control then I would have been normally.”
Flowers said that Clinton was emotionally there for her afterwards. “He was very sweet,” she said. “And gentle. And seemed very sorry that I had gone through what I had. I don’t think that he would have changed his mind. But he sincerely seemed to have sympathy and like I said and also cared about the physical pain as well.”
Abortion services were available at a select few locations in Arkansas at the time.
In 1977, Arkansas added an amendment to its constitution to prohibit the use of state funds to pay for abortion services. In 1978, the Harvard Crimson reported the minimum price for an abortion that year, at least in Massachusetts, was $150.
Meanwhile, Flowers stated that Hillary “absolutely” knew about the alleged affair as early as 1977, when Flowers says the affair began.
She stated:
“I know she did because there was a security guard at the mansion. Back then we didn’t have cell phones. So he (Bill Clinton) would have key people – whether it be Betsy Wright or a security guard at the mansion – for me to call and ask for and then that person would get a message to him to call me back.
“And one day he came in and the security guard told him that I had called and gave him the message. And what he didn’t know was that she (Hillary) was actually there and was walking up to meet him and heard the guard say my name. And that I had called. And so she had a conversation with him a little bit later that she was getting real tired of hearing that name. And that she wanted it to stop. And he told her it wasn’t gonna stop. And she said, ‘Well, Just at least don’t embarrass me.’ Well of course he went on to embarrass her. Many, many times.
“They had only been married about three months when he and I started our affair. You know, they didn’t have Chelsea. It started early on in their relationship as well.”
Flowers never sought to go public. Her name was put out there against her will when former Clinton insider Larry Nichols, who claimed he was improperly dismissed by Clinton from a state job, mentioned Flowers in court documents. In a lawsuit, Nichols alleged that Clinton diverted state funds to engage in extramarital affairs with five women, and he named Flowers, and four others, including former Miss America Elizabeth Ward Gracen and former Miss Arkansas Lencola Sullivan.
Nichols would later drop his lawsuit, but the charges helped form the basis for tabloid stories alleging that Clinton had extramarital affairs, including with Flowers.
Three days after Star Magazine mentioned Flowers as Clinton’s alleged mistress, Bill and Hillary Clinton appeared in January 1992 side by side on “60 Minutes,” where Bill denied a relationship with Flowers
To protect her reputation, Flowers held a press conference the next day where she played excerpts from tape recordings she had made of private phone calls with Clinton. In a deposition in 1998, Bill Clinton admitted he had a sexual encounter with Flowers.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.