‘Abortion: Stories Women Tell’ Is Advocacy, But With Some Balance

Abortion may be a huge social and political issue, but ultimately it’s decided one woman at a time.

“Abortion: Stories Women Tell” premiered on HBO on Monday, April 3, and it repeats on HBO East tomorrow, April 11, at 9 a.m. ET. It’s also available On Demand (until 5/6) and on the HBO Now/HBO Go apps.

Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, the film focuses on the interestingly named Hope Clinic in Missouri — which lauds itself as “Specialists in Quality Abortion Care” — in the aftermath of a 2014 decision by the state to require a 72-hour waiting period before an abortion. It also deals with the dwindling number of abortion providers.

Here’s how HBO describes the documentary:

In 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade recognized the right of every woman in the United States to have an abortion. Since 2011, over half the states in the nation have significantly restricted access to abortions. In 2016, abortion remains one of the most divisive issues in America, especially in Missouri, where only one abortion clinic remains open, patients and their doctors must navigate a 72-hour waiting period, and each year sees more restrictions.

Awarding-winning director and Missouri native Tracy Droz Tragos sheds new light on the contentious issue with a focus not on the debate, but rather on the women themselves – those struggling with unplanned pregnancies, the providers who show up at clinics to give medical care, as well as the activists on both sides of the issue hoping to sway decisions and lives.

“Abortion: Stories Women Tell” offers an intimate window into the lives of these women through their personal stories. Some are heartbreaking and tender some are bleak and frightening; some women, on both sides of the issue, find the choice easy to make due to their own circumstances and beliefs, while others simply inform us of the strength and capacity of women to overcome and persevere through complicated and unexpected circumstances.

“Abortion: Stories Women Tell” presents a candid dialogue about one of the timeliest issues facing America today.

Here, in no particular order, are some of my thoughts:

• While the film is obviously sympathetic to abortion, there is an attempt at balance. Interviewees include abortion providers, pro-life advocates (both the off-putting ones standing outside abortion clinics shouting and display grisly pictures, and the more thoughtful and prayerful ones), women getting abortions, women who chose to have babies (for adoption and to keep). It does not, though, feature any interviews with women who had abortions in the past who express trauma, contrition or deep regret.

• Most of the women getting abortions are there because they’re “not ready,” a teenager, single with other children and no steady man, in college or financially strapped (or some combination of the above). None was a rape or incest victim. All had pregnancies that were eminently preventable by better personal choices — and absolutely predictable, since that’s what sex is for. One woman said that while having unprotected sex was one of her worst decisions, having an abortion was one of her best. None of us knows for certain what we would do in a desperate situation, but many desperate situations just don’t have to happen.

• A white college student argues to a pro-life advocate that adoption isn’t a viable option for poor, inner-city — probably black or brown — children, ergo abortion is better. I’m sure she didn’t say this meaning to imply that it was better to kill off the poor minority children, because they had no future, but that’s essentially what she was saying.

• One of the abortion doctors, who’s pregnant, gets inspiration by reading a journal left by patients, who thank God she was there for them in their hour of need.

• In fact, God is present throughout, either through the words of patients or abortion workers (most of whom seem to have had abortions themselves), or by pro-life advocates. Several express the hope that God still loves them and will forgive them. There is also a Christian husband and wife who discovered their baby had severe birth defects. They consulted with their pastor about an abortion — and he concurred. They’ve kept a sonogram picture of the child. Also, a woman followed throughout the documentary says “Thank God!” when she discovers her abortion pill worked, and the abortion-clinic worker who confirmed the death says, “Praise Baby Jesus” in reply.

• Standing outside abortion clinics, yelling at people and displaying gruesome pictures evidently really doesn’t work. According to some of the comments, it just made women more adamant about not being prevented from doing what they wanted to do.

• Few men are featured. The only one who speaks at length is the teen father of the child given up for adoption. He says abortion might have been easier, and then he wouldn’t have to live with the knowledge every day that his daughter was given away. The teen mother states that she couldn’t live every day with having had an abortion. She’s my new hero.

• We’ve made somewhat of an idol of a college degree. Obviously, it doesn’t guarantee you employment these days — and many well-paying jobs don’t need one — but without it, you have no social status. You are considered a failure. Women are sacrificing their children on the altar of a college education — or, at least, an uninterrupted one. This is not just a problem for women, as many people are taking on enormous debt to get a degree, which drains their lives for decades. Mike Rowe has a lot to say about this.
• The abortion providers interviewed say the future is grim for clinics like theirs — so, there is that.

While it’s depressing to watch, I do recommend anyone serious about pro-life watch “Abortion: Stories Women Tell.” I don’t think it will change any minds among advocates on either side, but unless we understand the psychology and realities of the women seeking abortion, we’ll never be able to get them to say no, no matter what the law is.

PS: Click here for an interesting history of how numbers and attitudes about abortion changed during the 18th and 19th Centuries. This evil is nothing new.