Our Bodies, Our Doctors
Directed by Jan Haaken
USA | 2019 | Documentary | 77 min
Film Source: Filmmaker
Sponsors: The Caroline Fund for Women in Need | Sue Burton and Jan Schultz
Followed by a panel discussion with the director Jan Haaken, Dr. Sarah Prager participant in the film, Melinda Moulton, on the Board of PPNNE, Sandy Baird, attorney and co-founder of the Vermont Womens Health Center in Burlington, and Dr. Lauren K. MacAffee, gynecologist and obstetrician at UVM Medical Center.
This powerful film shines a light on new, unexplored aspects of the timely issue of abortion rights in America. The film introduces the audience to a new generation of female doctors who are putting themselves in danger in order to offer women reproductive choice. In one enthralling scene, the filmmakers follow the doctors to a medical school, where they answer questions from students about the dangers of performing abortions in America. The filmmakers were able to capture the true vulnerability of these young medical students and the fear inherent in their choice of whether or not to perform abortions. The film also brings to light the new reality of non-religious hospitals combining with religious institutions, and the real consequences of those mergers. There have been many recent films about the changing access to abortions in the American South, but this film shows that the threat is real for all of America, no matter what the laws say. ~JS