Abortion documentary leaves babies’ stories untold

In the upcoming HBO documentary Abortion: Stories Women Tell, director-producer Tracy Droz Tragos lines up a slate of women (and a few couples) whose stories run the full gamut of pro-abortion talking points. To her credit, though, the Emmy and Sundance Film Festival winner also makes space for seasoned pro-life advocates and young women who chose life for their babies, yielding a more even-handed narrative than Dawn Porter’s Trapped, a pro-abortion documentary released in March.

The unrated documentary focuses on women in Missouri, where a 72-hour waiting period and a scarcity of abortion centers make it a “burden,” some women say, to abort their babies. Many of the interviewees—like Amie, a single mother upon whom the film focuses—have traveled to the dubiously named Hope Clinic in Granite City, Ill., just across the river from St. Louis in a state with few statutory roadblocks to abortion. Barb, a staff nurse on a break outside, joins in with a distant protester.

“Yes, Jesus loves me,” Barb quietly sings, flicking ashes from her cigarette.

Hope Clinic abortionist Erin Lee King, herself 31 weeks pregnant, seems to find comfort in the entries of a journal she has provided for patients to write in.

“Thank God that he has given us a choice. … Believe in yourself. … No one can judge you for this,” one entry reads.

Throughout Amie’s abortion journey, Tragos weaves in dozens of testimonials from women who say they can’t afford another baby or raise a child alone. From their well-furnished apartment, a young married couple explains their lead pastor supported their decision to abort their baby who was diagnosed with serious birth defects.

“We’re both Christians, we both go to church, we both believe in God,” the husband says of himself and his wife. “That was really tough—feeling like your decision was OK, even though it’s your decision to make.”

In almost every other case, the young woman is unmarried, and her baby’s father has bailed on mother and child. But not every interviewee regards her preborn baby as a disposable commodity. Alexis, 17 and belly bulging, ignores snide comments as she walks to school, saying she has chosen to keep her baby. Janet, a former drug addict, describes the tough decision to place her baby girl for adoption.

Tragos also films inspirational speaker Susan Jaramillo, who shares her regret after three abortions; Reagan, a representative from Students for Life of America; and Kathy Forck, a 40 Days for Life organizer.

“It’s not OK to kill a baby, and it’s not OK what it does to that woman who has to live with that for the rest of her life,” Forck says.

Dragos told me her “intention was not to make an advocacy piece,” saying she “included with dignity” women active in the pro-life movement. The documentary is, nevertheless, one-sided: As the film closes, Amie seems happy to get on with her life, but her aborted baby will never have the chance to tell her (or his) story.