From Danger to Dignity: The Fight for Safe Abortion
FROM DANGER to DIGNITY: The Fight for Safe Abortion weaves together two parallel stories: the evolution of underground networks that helped women find safe abortions outside the law, and the intensive efforts by activists and legislators to decriminalize abortion through legislative and judicial channels. Even though most abortions were illegal in the United States before 1973, restrictive laws did not prevent abortions. However, the safety of an abortion depended on a woman's financial situation and her connections. A handful of individuals - doctors, skilled midwives, and others - provided relatively safe, low-cost care. Some physicians performed abortions for their wealthy private patients, charging thousands of dollars. Most women who sought abortions risked their lives by going to practitioners who had no medical training. Hospital wards were filled with victims of unsafe abortions.
After more than a century of backless tragedies, a national movement toward safe, legal abortion began in the 1960s. The documentary FROM DANGER to DIGNITY combines rare archival footage with interviews that document the courageous efforts of those who fought to break the silence, change the laws and end the shame which surrounded abortion when it was a crime.
Director: Dorothy Fadiman, Beth Seltzer, Daniel Meyers
Country: USA
Year: 1995
Produced by: Concentric Media
subtitel: Spanish
Length: 57 mins
Language: English
Distrubtor commerical: CONCENTRIC MEDIA, P.O. Box 1414, Menlo Park, CA 94026, Phone (650) 568-4340, info@concentric.org
Distrubtor non commerical: Women Make Movies, Inc., 462 Broadway, Suite 500WS New York, New York 10013, TEL 212.925.0606, FAX 212.925.2052 info@wmm.com www.wmm.com
Format: 16mm, 35mm, video, DVD, web
Link: The Power of Choice Project
Link: From the Back Alleys to the Supreme Court and beyond