*Awarding-winning director and Missouri native Tracy Droz Tragos sheds new light on the controversial abortion issue with her new documentary “Abortion: Stories Women Tell.”
The HBO doc focuses not on the debate, but rather on the women themselves – those struggling with unplanned pregnancies, the providers who give medical care, as well as the activists on both sides of the issue. Some of the stories are heartbreaking, others are informative and empowering. “Abortion: Stories Women Tell” presents a candid dialogue about one of the timeliest issues facing America today.
EUR/Electronic Urban Report chatted with Tragos about her inspiration behind the project and the future of abortion access and women’s healthcare under Trump’s administration.
“I felt like for far too long, this divisive issue has been in the hands of politicians and men and women have been left out of the conversation. Women who are most effected,” Tragos said. “And honestly, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to do this had I not had the collaboration and the support of Sheila Nevins and Sarah Bernstein at HBO documentary films. This plan was hatched with the three of us, and independent filmmakers need badass executives at places like HBO, who are going to support you when you enter territory like this. So I have to say that I’m not sure I would have had the courage to do it had they not been behind me,” she admits.
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“Gripping and searingly personal.” @WashingtonPost
Abortion: Stories Women Tell premieres Monday at 8 on @HBO. #AbortionStoriesDoc pic.twitter.com/GaaVsKWPbE
— HBO Documentaries (@HBODocs) March 30, 2017
In the doc, Tragos surveys reproductive health services in Missouri, where only one abortion clinic remains open in the entire state, and where patients and their doctors must navigate a 72-hour waiting period.
When asked how she got her subjects to trust her and share their personal stories for this project, Tragos explained, “There were many more women who couldn’t share their stories because they felt there would be too much repercussions and were afraid. But I would say that almost everybody that I approached understood why the film was being made and were glad that the film was being made because no one feels good to be judge.”
She continued, “No one wants to have someone tell them that they’re making the wrong decisions or that they’re evil when they’re really just trying to do the best that they can for their families and themselves and their lives and make thoughtful choices. But the longer answer to why the women did want to participate is because they said, ‘This is my opportunity to say who I am, to tell my story, to kinda reclaim it so that it’s not in somebody else’s hands, who gets to say that I am a bad person. They get to see, maybe for a minute, the full story of who I am and why I’m making the decisions that I’m making.’ And then also, there was a generosity of spirit, I think, that women really had for people that they would never meet but would follow in their footsteps so that they might not feel so judged and stigmatized.”
“Abortion: Stores Women Tell” highlights the patients, physicians, clinic administrators, and passionate advocates on both sides of the issue. The film is a snapshot of the present moment in this contentious debate.
“Women make this decision for any number of reasons and often it is financial. It gets very private and complicated when you break it down but women are going to talk about all kinds of reasons for why this is the best choice for them. And some of those reasons might not sit well with someone else but until you walk a minute in their shoes, it’s hard to say that they shouldn’t do that. Not every choice they make is going to make you comfortable.”
As far as what Trump’s administration could mean for abortion access and women’s healthcare, Tragos believes we’re living in “perilous times, and unless a lot of women come forward and talk about their lives and their needs and wants and demand to have equal access to healthcare, we may find ourselves second class citizens even more than we already are.”
“And what happens when women can’t control their bodies?,” she asks, for our readers to ponder.
“They can’t control their lives, their futures… the ripple effects are enormous. So it’s gotta start with education, birth control and access to a spectrum of health care needs but the more that those are chipped away, the more you can’t control your life.”
If a family that is politically divided over the abortion issue watches this documentary, what would Tragos like them to take away from it as far as discussion points?
“This isn’t easy. Nobody wants an unplanned pregnancy and until it happens to you or your daughter or your niece or you aunt, you’re not going to know what you’re going to do,” she explains. “So a bit of compassion for what women and our families and our friends and our neighbors are going to face. Cause the other thing that I hope that this film will do (is) lift some measure of stigma. There is such an intense amount of stigma, especially in places like Missouri. And it’s hard to do anything that’s going to take it away all together. But if we can lift it just a little bit and really increase the understanding that this is not some kind of isolated random circumstance that only bad people face. This is 1 in 3 women, before they turn 40, will face an unwanted pregnancy. So it’s very-very common, and I hope that’s part of the conversation too.”
“Abortion: Stories Women Tell” offers an intimate window into the lives of women through their personal stories,” and you can anonymously submit your story at the official website. Learn more here.
“The approach with this film was not to just tell one isolated story but to really kind of pack as many stories in as we could, because the notion was there’s going to be a cumulative effect, and there’s power with as many stores as possible so that you can’t really reduce it to like, a good and a bad story, or a good and a bad woman,” said Tragos.
“Abortion: Stories Women Tell” premieres April 3 on HBO.
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