By Although it’s been technically legal ever since the famous Roe v. Wade legal battle in the 60s and 70s, states across America still do as much as they can to limit healthcare, and by extension abortion, to the nation’s women. There are states with regulations so egregious, the subject has become the center of yet another furious debate as women are forced to resort to crazier methods to get the care they need.
Abortion: Stories Women Tell is a documentary that gives you every single side of the story from the people who matter the most in this situation. It gives you enough information to make your own judgment on the matter and never pushes you one way or another. It’s the deepest, most respectful tackle of abortion yet.
[This film is playing as part of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, running from April 13-24 in New York City. For tickets and more information, click here.]
Abortion: Stories Women Tell
Director: Tracy Droz Tragos
Rating: NR
Release Date: April 18, 2016 (limited)
Abortion: Stories Women Tell is eye opening. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I knew everything about the subject, so some of the film’s perspectives are heartbreaking. Stories follows two women for the most part: one who’s about to undergo the procedure because she doesn’t want another child (and has way too many responsibilities already) and one who’s protesting the procedure because of religious beliefs. The doc takes care to normalizing the subject just in case you were squeamish to any part of the process. It’s treated as just another part of life, another facet of heatlhcare, and regardless of your personal feelings the subject is standing on neutral ground. Sure there are some digs into either side in the way it’s being filmed, but those are viewpoints the audience has to infer for themselves. It’s great the final product is basically the open start to a conversation, presenting as many arguments as possible.
While this make the documentary sound weaker overall, it’s true purpose is to inform rather than to judge. It’s astounding to see how many viewpoints are represented here. Reflecting how wide open the subject is, and how many opposing views of it there are, Stories cast a wide net and talks to women of various ages, races, and creeds. And while Stories may follow one or two particular women for the majority, the audience is just witness to a particular moment of their lives. We’re given a brief look into who these women are, but never enough to form attachment. Stories never loses sight of its subject for an instant, and that makes it all the more powerful. It’s handled so well, in fact, I’m left wondering why it’s regulated as much as it is now. But given the opposition opposes it so strongly, it’s easy to see why. But as I mentioned before, the judgment is entirely ours to make as a viewer. This doc just wants to make sure you know what’s going on.
Abortion: Stories Women Tell was the strongest documentary I’d seen at Tribeca. A strong, fair, and ultimately open ended film that captures a pocket of the frustration surrounding the issue. For letting me in on a fraction of what the women presented are feeling, this documentary has done a lot more for the issue than anything has done in the past.
To anyone unknowledgeable about abortion or the debate surrounding, you owe it yourselves to watch and listen to Abortion: Stories Women Tell.