Educational Videos



For the Fall of 2001 Students for Choice members will have the opportunity to watch several videos about the history of abortion from the days of back-alley abortions to the current state of abortion rights and the struggles women still have to overcome in order to exercise their right to abortion. After watching the videos we will engage in discussions to help understand the topics and information discussed in the videos. Some of the videos that we will be watching are:

Motherless: A legacy of loss from illegal abortion- Motherless explores the tragedy of death from illegal abortions. Three women and one man, whose mothers died due to complications from abortion (before its legalization), discuss the trauma of loving and then losing a mother a a young age. Two of their mothers died in 1929, one in 1950, and one as recently as 1960.Motherless offers a rare and deeply moving insight into the human tragedies behind the statistics. It captures the feelings of these survivors as they remember and mourn their mothers, four among the thousands who died.

I Witness: Shot Down in Pensacola- I Witness captures a community where two doctors and an escort have been murdered at abortion clinics, and reveals the religious conviction on both sides that fuels this turbulent debate.

Jane: An Abortion Service-Jane was an underground abortion network in Chicago that provided nearly 12,000 safe, illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973. The film interviews the members who ran the underground network and some of the patients who received their abortions through the Jane service. Jane is a fascinating story of how a group of women managed to safely and secretly provide women with the right to choose when abortion was illegal.

Roe v. Wade at 25- Filmed in 1998, this video is a live teleconference in which a panel of experts discuss a woman’s right to choose a quarter of a century after the Roe v Wade decision.

Abortion: For Survival- A film that depicts the necessity of safe and legal abortion worldwide and in America.

Legal but out of reach: six women's abortion stories- In this poignant documentary, viewers will meet six women who live in states where lack of public funding makes abortion Legal But Out Of Reach for many poor women. Irela, Gina, Trenise, Esperanza, Mindy and Carolyn reveal their lives and personal struggles that led them to choose abortion-only to discover that they could not afford that choice.

When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories- Compelling personal accounts reveal the physical, legal, and emotional consequences during the era when abortion was a crime in the United States. Doctors who risked imprisonment by providing illegal procedures, women who experienced back-alley abortions, and others who broke the law by helping women find safe care speak frankly, some for the first time. Part one of a series.

From Danger to Dignity: The Fight for Safe Abortion- After more than a century of back-alley tragedies, a national movement to decriminalize abortion took root. From Danger to Dignity combines rare archival footage with present-day interviews to weave together two parallel stories: the evolution of ‘underground’ networks which helped women find safe abortions outside the law and the intensive efforts of activists and legislators who broke the silence and changed the laws. Part two in the series.

The Fragile Promise of Choice: Abortion in the U.S. Today- The World Health Organization estimates that unsafe abortions cause more than 75,000 deaths annually, worldwide. GIRE, a major reproductive rights group in Mexico, estimates 1,000,000 abortions take place each year in Mexico and 1,500 women die from clandestine procedures. Socio-economic and legal constraints, even in nations where abortion is technically legal and available, including the United States, prevent millions of women from obtaining adequate medical care. Situations in the United States that this video addresses include the crises of access and affordability, the atmosphere of harassment and violence for doctors and clinic workers, the impact of growing state and local legislative restrictions for women seeking care, the complexity of religious issues, and the provider crisis. Part three of the series.

Soldiers in the Army of God- A rare, inside look at the leaders and soldiers in training of the most extreme anti-abortion group in the United States, The Army of God.


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