Gasparilla International Film Festival 2012. As a result of the Johns Committees efforts, more than 200 gay and lesbian students and teachers were expelled or fired. THE ABORTION TALKS follows the crimes, trial, and murder of John Salviand the story of six women, all of them leaders in the pro-life and pro-choice movements, who sought to ensure that it would never happen again. LEARNING INSTITUTE FOR ELDERS (L.I.F.E.) We did it. In 2009, one of the very few remaining providers of third-trimester abortions in the country, Dr. George Tiller, was shot to death. Seven of the women were arrested in a police raid with charges of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion in 1972, just before the historic Supreme Court decision. And many private . FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. UCF Center for Distributed Learning, 2015 - University of Central Florida Copyright Laws of the United States, Over the course of 16 months, beginning last July, the Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth conducted a dozen hearings in Washington and several more in locations around the country, addressing a range of issues from education to housing, labor unions, small business support, infrastructure, social programs and tax policy. Since Planned Parenthoods decision to remove itself from Title X, the federal program that provides reproductive care for nearly 4 million low-income Americans, thousands of health care workers and administrators have been scrambling. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. DEL BARCO: Booth, who is 76 years old, has been fighting for women's reproductive rights since she was a 19-year-old college student. There's reason for people on opposing sides of abortion to talk, even if they disagree Kate Isaacs, Excellent, important, timely, urgent and needs to be seen and discussed widely Peter Coleman, Founding Executive Director of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at The Earth Institute at Columbia University and author of. Ultimately, just three were included. They spoke all of three sentences to me the entire time. Click here to download the complete press kit. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News. The documentaries below follow doctors, patients, plaintiffs and protesters through periods when politicians on both side of the aisle fought to either maintain or dismantle the Roe v. Wade verdict all these years later. Powerful evidence of the unimaginable., Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor. FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. AT UCF This renewed interest is of course not a coincidence. This documentary, accompanied by dozens of in-depth interviews published as part of the FRONTLINE Transparency Project, examined then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells decades-long campaign to transform the nations highest court and its profound implications. A new documentary series warns about the dangers of chemical abortions, as the Biden Administration has recently removed restrictions on the abortion pill . Some were anti-war activists or women's lib members, some were homemakers and at least one was a nun. Jane was born first as a continuation of Booths referral service, and then as a counseling service. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: For the women coming through, they were putting their trust in somebody who was breaking the law. The documentary and supporting materials serve as a perfect springboard to have healthier, deeper, more connective conversations about abortion in your context. The authors say the curtailment of abortion rights in the US is of a piece with the countrys history of devaluing the lives of Black women, who are hit worst by abortion restrictions. UCF OFFICE OF LGBTQ SERVICES Here are two documentaries that offer context to the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion. Nicki Nichols Gamble (top row, right) was the President of Planned Parenthood League of MA at the time of the clinic shootings and throughout the six yearlong dialogues. This is the question viewers are left with when watching "Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa," a short documentary film offering a glimpse into the lives of five callers to an abortion fund hotline in Philadelphiaeach left with an unplanned pregnancy, no options, and everything to lose. Essential Partners With intimate access, The Abortion Divide featured interviews with women with unplanned pregnancies, doctors and nurses who provided abortions, and those who counseled women against the procedure. The complexion changed, noted Marie Leaner, one of the only Black women in the collective. They note that the UN committee has already established that denial of abortion can cause physical and mental suffering so severe in pain and intensity as to amount to torture. Word spread, and by 1968 Booth realized she needed more help to continue her referral service. TIA LESSIN: There's audacious women who outmaneuvered the Chicago Police and the Catholic Church and the Chicago mob to help other women in need. Their work dramatically changed when Mike the man who had been performing the procedures after Howard, and who, unbeknownst to some of the Janes, was not a medically licensed physician decided that he didnt want to do it anymore. January 28, 20223:00 PM ET. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. & Sepp Seitz Sepp Seitz. FRONTLINEs latest documentary, "The Abortion Divide," paints a portrait of the complicated, personal issues surrounding abortion. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. But for what it's worth, I didn't ask how often or when at all it might happen. Documentary shows how women ran underground abortion network before Roe v. Wade ruling, according to a 2019 BuzzFeed essay written by Allan Weiland. Abortion: Stories Women Tell is streaming on HBO Max. Click here to learn more about hosting a screening. Efforts to revise the ending of the film began shortly thereafter and WUSF-TV in Tampa agreed to pitch the film to the American Public Television Exchange for national distribution. The abortion debate has long dominated political discourse on Capitol Hill, particularly in recent years. The broadcast version of the film is significantly different from the film festival version, in that it highlights USFs role in bringing media attention to the Johns Committee, ultimately causing the committees downfall. COMMANDER MICHAEL CALDERIN AND THE BOOTH: I'm hoping that it's actually a call to action. But now, without having to pay Mike, they remodeled their payment service by reducing the price from $500 to $100 and offering a pay-what-you-can option. DEL BARCO: Then they'd move to another Jane's home, what they called the place. The abortion clinic is less than a mile from Texas, where abortion is illegal. ! they shouted, going from room to room looking for a male physician. The law cannot and should not stop people from seeking out life-saving health care. Anybody can be a catalyst for change. When someone suggested Parker, Himes said, I was a little concerned initially that people would see it and say, What in the world is Carrie Bradshaw doing in this documentary? referring to her character in the long-running HBO series Sex and the City. But, he said, She does a wonderful job of telling her own story, and its a remarkable story.. The film tracked abortion opponents actions: lobbying state legislatures, looking to see where courts drew the line on what constituted an undue burden, then seeking to incrementally restrict abortion access within those evolving parameters. The class also watched the only documentary previously made on the subject, Allyson Beutkes Behind Closed Doors: The Dark Legacy of the Johns Committee. Weve seen consistent lip service from the Biden-Harris administration, but not enough action, she said. This fall, Himes, a former Wall Street banker, won an eighth term as Connecticuts 4th District representative in Congress. The film details how the women of the Chicago-based group worked and helped women obtain safe and affordable abortions. Lets hope that incites us to action, and not to despair. Wade.' The film was released theatrically in New York . Around this time, too, abortion became legal in New York state and Washington, D.C., which meant that a large demographic of their clientele middle- and upper-class white women could travel to obtain a legal abortion (abortion was still illegal in Illinois). Click here to find a screening in your area. The Janes meets our political moment and reinforces the message of people power and that when people organize, they can change the world. After Tiller is streaming on Amazon Prime. Fifty years ago, Floridas Legislative Investigative Committee, led by Senator Charley Johns sought to remove homosexuals from Florida's state universities. That said, Himes is committed to shaping policy that evens the playing field. Republican. the committee documentary abortionthe renaissance apartments chicago. In the spring of 2012, the film began screening in film festivals in Florida and over the next two years it screened in festivals all over the world, winning many competitions, prizes, and awards. UCF Office of Instructional Resources DEL BARCO: Booth gathered an underground collective of women who called themselves Jane. The films stories of womens desperation are haunting and ominous. Seven Janes were arrested, along with the clientele in the apartment. The documentary also reported on the increase in clinic invasions and threats. ET Wednesday, featuring the voices of more than a dozen former members of the group, informally known as Jane, who recount their experiences helping women get access to abortions when they were illegal. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., speaks during the pro-abortion rights rally at the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge in downtown Westport, Conn. Sunday, May 8, 2022. Himes said various members of the committee have plans in the works to screen the movie in their districts, and theyre promoting it at universities. Check your local listings for air dates and times. Dialogue participant Melissa Kogut, former head of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, calls this a powerful documentary right when we need it. Frances Hogan, founder of Women Affirming Life describes it as fair, clear and intriguing, and Anne Fowler, a pro-choice Episcopal priest, writes inspiring, brilliantly told.. O n the day Angela Saini talks to me from her book-lined study in New York, the patriarchy is hard at work all over the world. The group helped an estimated 11,000 women in Chicago get access to safe, affordable abortions in the late 1960s and early 70s. We must care with compassion, and unlike in the male-dominated medical establishment, encourage collective care and knowledge. As a new U.S. Supreme Court term begins, revisit FRONTLINE documentaries that show how conservatives gained a court majority and give context for last term's major decisions on abortion, guns & more. COLLEEN HAMILTON, LYNN AND LOUIS WOLFSON II Two new films tell the story. A doctor hugs a patient at an abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on 13 January 2023. . Lie back and do as I tell you. On Sept. 1, the state . Film Program in the School of Visual Arts and Design DEL BARCO: Until the Supreme Court decision in 1973, abortion was a felony in the state of Illinois, as in most of the country. There has been an absolute calamity in terms of public health, human rights, and the response has been middling to poor, Ryan said. After a Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked last month indicating that the justices are likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, it felt like the time for us to come together to give women a platform to talk about what it looks like when abortion is criminalized, Pildes said. Since Roe was overturned, such local ordinances have been identified as a tool for officials to control where patients can get an abortion, advocates and legal experts say. Arcana, now in her 70s, and other members, who were college age to middle age, were known as Jane, a code name used to avoid being caught. Barron says someone in the Chicago mob took her to a seedy motel with another young, pregnant woman. Rep. Barbara . Detailing the decades-long abortion debate, these docs give context to the historic Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. So, Mike trained the Janes to perform abortions themselves. Member states are obliged to protect and uphold the rights to life, health, privacy, liberty and security, along with freedoms from torture and inhumane, cruel or degrading treatment. Even before last year's Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, a recent international surge in films about abortion rights and the endangerment thereof from period pieces like . N. ADAM WATSON The House Oversight and Reform hearing came a day after the Senate Judiciary Committee held a similar hearing on the legal ramifications of a controversial Texas law. Anti-abortion protestors are getting ready to march on the Supreme . Revisit the documentaries below to understand how America reached this moment. FRONTLINE has been documenting the fight over abortion for several decades. The opinion onthe Mississippi-based case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization could change before a final ruling is released in the coming months, Politico said, describing the publication of the draft as unprecedented.. MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Heather Booth was on vacation when she got the news that the Supreme Court may soon rule that abortion is once again illegal in the U.S. HEATHER BOOTH: I was horrified but not surprised. We came together to do something at a time when it was most needed, collective member Laura Kaplan said at the documentarys conclusion. Similar laws are passed in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington state. WUCF-TV is now streaming The Committee for FREE on their website! The Idaho House State Affairs Committee moved forward a bill on Friday that would make it a felony crime to transport or recruit a minor for an abortion without parental consent. He would assist Dr. Cassanello and Dr. Mills in guiding the students through the various technical and creative facets of the film's post-production and marketing phases. So weve got to address those things.. Marcie Bianco is a writer and editor based in California. Connecticut Gov. The Supreme Court Has Overturned 'Roe v. Ned Lamont, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, and local OB/GYNs spoke at the event put on by DefendDemocracy to protest against the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. SYLVANA FERNNDEZ Its pretty hard to tell stories and to be evocative about tax policy, Himes said. It also details cases of several patients who had to travel out of state for an abortion after being refused care for an ectopic pregnancy, and others who were denied chemotherapy care due to pregnancy. Nelson A. Rockefeller signs a bill repealing the state's 1830 law that banned abortion after quickening except to save a woman's life. After Tiller is an essential watch to understand the emotional and misunderstood elements of the late-term abortion debate. And how they are designed, to maintain the white-supremacist patriarchy, means that they will continue to harm and criminalize women, queer and trans and racially marginalized people no matter what the law says. Seven Janes were arrested, along with the clientele in the apartment. Trump documentary maker says he now has 2 armed guards for protection after he gave evidence to January 6 committee Joshua Zitser and Bethany Dawson Jul 2, 2022, 6:06 AM Documentary maker. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. All rights reserved. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has this report. Anti-abortion activists have tapped into that sentiment in Virginia and elsewhere and are proposing changes to zoning laws to stop the clinics from moving in. He said he often gets asked how its possible to represent a population with such a wide range in income and wealth disparity. later, the body is removed and disposed of as medical waste. "The Janes" is streaming on HBO Max. The limitations included performing abortions with no formal medical training. Michael Hugo resigned as the chair of the Framingham Democratic Committee in Massachusetts on Thursday following weeks of backlash for complaining about the cost of special needs education for . Could I help her find someone to arrange for an abortion? The Committee recalls that unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. Yet, amid this violence, a hopefulness shines through. The film, which premieres on HBO and HBO Max tonight (June 8) at 9 p.m., tells the story of a group of women who ranand were. At the center of two separate symbolic victories for pro-choice and pro-life advocates, McCorvey makes a deathbed confession that she was paid by anti-abortion groups like Operation Rescue to speak out against abortion later in life. Prior to the Roe v. Wade case, the so-called "Janes" built the underground organization and assisted an estimated 11,000 women. Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Emma Peldes. BOISE The Idaho House State Affairs Committee passed a bill Friday making it illegal for an adult to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, with the intent to conceal it from . The committee was tasked with producing a report with policy recommendations, but Himes wanted to go further than that. The development of medication abortion has vastly changed the landscape. With the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before the 2020 presidential election, conservatives secured a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and the chance to shape American life and policy, including abortion rights, for a generation. Suncoast Emmy Awards 2014, Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts 2012, Atlanta's Out On Film LGBT Film Festival 2014 Dont want to be? According to the media gossip platform Def Noodles, the video received more than 33,000. The film tells the story of a group of Chicago women who in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped pregnant people access abortions. Beginning in the late 1960s, signs hung up around the city and advertisements in underground newspapers offered a vague alternative: Pregnant? That is when labor is induced, the babies path is blocked in the vagina, and the babies brain is sucked out if its skull. Copyright 2022 NPR. When a draft opinion from the Supreme Court leaked last month, suggesting the court could be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the directors of underground abortion network documentary The Janes . We knew that some would be injured, some would die, former member Judith Arcana says in the film. Students were required to read And They Were Wonderful Teachers, a book by Karen Graves, Ph.D., about the Johns Committees persecution of public school teachers. They drove women to and from appointments, explained how the process would unfold and babysat their children while they underwent the procedure. DEL BARCO: The Janes say their clients included wives and girlfriends of police officers. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We would try to have refreshments, talk to them, try to keep a pleasant atmosphere for people that were probably terrified out of their minds. You need an abortion. So we had about over 100 counts of felony homicide against us, each of us. Investigative journalist Ellie Flynn follows the story of Ireland's landmark vote to legalise abortion. And why it wasnt stopped sooner. The 30-minute documentary, "Grit & Grace: The Fight for the American Dream," features three families facing varied economic challenges a North Carolina man grieving his parents while working to finish college, a family caring for twin sons with special needs in West Virginia and an immigrant mom in California who struggled to keep her business If you do not see your local station listed here, we urge you to contact them and ask them to air this film. 7 min read. (Amy Davis) Sullivan, a . Directors: Erik Cieslewicz, Brooke Sperry | Stars: Dino Corvino, Liz Hayes, Chrystina Head, Frances Irwin 9. FRED FEJES UCF History Department Madeline McComish (top row, center), a retired chemist, is past president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. 3 min read The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a woman's federal. Students also interviewed Judith Poucher, Ph.D., who recently released her book State of Defiance: Challenging the Johns Committee's Assault on Civil Liberties. Especially now. To prepare for the Supreme Court's current term, we recommend brushing up on the issues with six FRONTLINE documentaries. Of course it felt complicated, Peaches, a white woman in the collective, observed. The Supreme Courts Dobbs decision has successfully overturned a womans federal right to an abortion; nearly 50 years later, Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land. ANDY HUSE, ARTSERVE FT. LAUDERDALE They just left. In fall 2011, professors Robert Cassanello and Lisa Mills taught an Advanced Documentary Workshop class at the University of Central Florida. Tel : 617-923-1216 833. Released in 2018, Just after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, Reversing Roe examines how the abortion debate became more heated than ever before. How, despite "Roe v. Wade," anti-abortion advocates successfully led campaigns to pass multiple state laws limiting access to abortion with efforts in Miss. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. The film's stories of women's desperation are haunting . Ending the constitutional right to abortion has had far-reaching, and in some cases life-threatening risks, the authors write including for those seeking miscarriage care, those forced to travel across state lines for abortion, and those denied care for potentially fatal complications such as ectopic pregnancies. Directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg, the film documents how even conservative presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush supported abortion rights, which changed by 2018 when Republican politicians continued to use anti-abortion as an organizing cause and voting incentive for citizens. (The reason, he alludes to on camera, is that the Mafia was closing in on him.). MONICA MONTICELLO, MONICA MONTICELLO Esposito, a web application developer for a tech company, presented emotional testimony before the committee in support of Senate Bill 798, which seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution, if approved by voters in 2024. Scott Goldberg "We've been telling you for the last 20 years, no one wants that! University of Central Florida College of Arts & Humanities. Do you understand that? I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. In documentaries and related reporting, weve tracked developments related to this contentious issue including, in recent years, the Mississippi law at the center of the draft Supreme Court decision and the ways states have prepared for a potential post-Roe v. Wade world. by removing unnecessary regulations on certain drugs. This story was originally published by Idaho Reports on March 3, 2023. The students, with backgrounds in English, accounting, journalism, computer engineering, art, and radio/TV production, were assigned into production teams where they would best be able to use their abilities. Im just enormously happy with the outcome of the committee, Himes said. But when youre talking about people and their hopes to better themselves economically, you can tell some wonderful stories., Drawing a parallel to the U.S. House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, Himes said, They radically changed the way a congressional committee communicates with the American public and we did the same thing with this documentary.. Brutal, costly abortions at the hands of the Mafia. daniel@whatisessential.org The letter sent on Thursday was addressed to a number of UN agencies and officials, including the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls; the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy. DEL BARCO: The film shows how the Jane Collective was different. The Florida Orange Growers Association, UCF Burnett Honors College A new documentary tells the story of "The Jane Collective," a group that helped women with nowhere else to turn for a safe abortion, in the days before Roe v. Wade. How American Politics Reached This Fraught Moment: 12 Documentaries to Watch Ahead of the Midterms, How the Supreme Courts Conservative Majority Came to Be, Mass Shootings, a Supreme Court Ruling, Bipartisan Legislation: How America Reached This Moment on Guns, From the Archives: How the World's Deadliest Ebola Outbreak Unfolded, Russias Invasion of Ukraine, One Year Later, War Crimes Watch Ukraine: More Than 650 Documented Events, From the Archives: How the U.N. & World Failed Darfur Amid "the 21st Century's First Genocide". We were done. 11: New York allows abortion on demand up to the 24th week of pregnancy, as Gov. Call Jane.. But finding women who actually obtained abortions from the Janes was more difficult. Several decades after Roe v. Wade, the anti-abortion movement had successfully spearheaded campaigns in multiple states, passing laws that limited access to abortion including in Mississippi, where a single facility performing abortions remained.