Mordant Belle

It’s been 25 years since this documentary by PBS’ Frontline has been aired. “Abortion Clinic” is one of Frontline’s most powerful documentaries, showcasing the reality of abortion back in 1983.

“Abortion Clinic” was filmed in the small town of Chester, Pennsylvania. It shows the abortions experienced by two young white women, Helen and Barbara, along with their explanation of what got them there in the first place. At the time, Chester had a 30% unemployment rate.

It doesn’t hold anything back - parts of the footage are graphic. At the same time, it’s important to have a filming of this procedure, so mysterious and fearful, characterized as so malicious. When I watch it, I’m less afraid (even though I probably will never go through the procedure of having an abortion, a function of privilege, luck, and a great support system unavailable to most). What’s known is always less scary than what your mind dreams up out of fear and lack of information.

This film serves as a powerful reminder of why we need to keep abortion safe, legal, and rare.

Frontine: “Abortion Clinic”, 1983 (requires Windows Media Player…sucks, I know, fellow Mac users)

The introduction to Helen’s story (Chapter 2) begins with some footage of a man claiming to be a “doctor” who is going over his various methods for trying to convince women seeking an abortion to change their minds. (I suspect, like many of the theological establishment, he isn’t necessarily lying about being a doctor, but exaggerating and/or not telling the whole truth. Probably has a doctorate of theology or something, but the point is when you tell people you’re a doctor, they assume you mean a medical doctor - a physician - unless you clarify, because that’s the layman’s usage.) He pulls out a “standard textbook” and a plastic model of a fetus he says is just 10 weeks along (proof that the anti-abortion protesters have been lying for many many years…no WAY is that only 10 weeks along), which he also claims has a fully developed brain and can think and feel pain, both claims which have been refuted by more recent medical literature.

If nothing else, watch the film to see the protesters in action. It’s sad, but I wish that protesters today were so mild as these, whom I can respectfully disagree with, even if they are deceiving women. At least they approach the women as beseeching rather than accusatory, and aren’t likely to kill anyone. Compare that to today’s climate, as seen in THINKFilmNY’s 2007 documentary, Lake of Fire:

Ah, the good old days of bigoted signs and fake plastic fetuses. Who would have thought they’d be missed?

From the author of The Macho Paradox comes Tough Guise, a great documentary which I watched during one of my Media Studies classes.

Here’s an excellent preview; more embedded below the fold.

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