Chris Knipp
09-20-2013, 11:55 AM
Martha Shane and Lana Wilson: AFTER TILLER (2013)
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7875/f9ov.jpg
ROBINSON AND SELLA, ABOVE; HERN AND CARHART, BELOW
Late term abortion: a world of impossible choices
Abortion is controversial; late term abortion, because the fetus is more developed and may be viable, is more so. This is a documentary about the four constantly tormented physicians in the US who continue to perform late-term third trimester abortions (after the twentieth week of pregnancy), in the wake of the 2009 assassination in Wichita, Kansas of Dr. George Tiller. They are Dr. Susan Robinson and Dr. Shelley Sella, who perform abortions at a clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexica; Dr. Warren Hern, the Director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Boulder, Colorado; and Dr. LeRoy Carhart, with an abortion clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska, who has begun running a clinic in Maryland since a law in Nebraska has prevented late term abortions there. All of these doctors worked with, and are inspired by, Dr. Tiller.
This film is good at showing the four doctors' lives, outlooks, and their and their counselors' conferences with patients and considering of their decisions. It considers some pro-life arguments, such as that fetuses feel pain (the Obstetrics and gynaecology community says no), but it does not go into the abortion procedures in detail, nor into the differences in state laws, or the situation of abortion in the rest of the globe. These omissions are understandable, because the procedures are painful to consider and variations in laws in the US and worldwide are tangled and confusing. From the bioethics viewpoint, this film nonetheless provides some good material, except that it does not consider the anti-abortion position in any detail, except insofar as in each case considered the doctors and the patients would rather not have an abortion if it did not seem imperative. Note that: late-term abortions account for only 1% of abortions performed; most of them are to terminate planned pregnancies when the mothers have discovered their baby is seriously malformed or ill and will live only a short life of pain, if delivered.
This film shows that "pro-life," anti-abortion activists are always picketing the clinics where the doctors practice. In particular it shows how they sought to prevent Dr. Carhart from coming to Maryland. And though the laws in Maryland were most beneficial to Carhart, it was difficult for him to find anyone who would rent to him. Todd Stave, the owner who rented to him, actually became more resolved to do so after anti-abortionists resorted to picketing the school his son attended. Satve's father performed abortions and was victimized by opponents. These doctors are all fighting back against the anti-abortion camp, refusing to be intimidated, knowing that they may meet Dr. Tiller's fate, but preferring to do what they think right rather than back down. They are getting older --- in fact Dr. Tiller was sixty-seven, but, though Dr. Hern takes more time off to spend with his sedond wife and her son (he has married recently), they can't retire, because there is no one to replace them. This is controversial work. It's war. Tiller was shot as he attended church. The pro-life camp doesn't play fair. Killing people or humiliating the child of a man who rents to an abortion doctor is abhorrent.
Shane and Wilson deftly provide just enough details about the lives and personalities of the doctors to make them three-dimensional. Dr. Carhart's wife, with whom he says he's been together since they were twelve, manages the clinic. They also raise and board horses. When back in the eighties a fire killed a lot of their horses and anti-abortionists said it was justified punishment for killing babies, that strengthened his wife's determination to be involved in the work. There is less about Dr. Susan Robinson, but there is more footage of her in her clinic with patients and her counselors considering individual cases. She says that the only reason she can say no ultimately is that the procedure would not be safe for the patient. These four doctors are all unusually tough and compassionate.
This film doesn't clarify for me what stand to take about abortion in general, or all the arguments pro or con. There aren't any easy choices here. This is one of the knottiest issues, and late-term abortion is the toughest kind of abortion to consider. A look at these doctors was worthwhile. Alissa Simon of Variety (http://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/after-tiller-1117949021) concludes this debuting documentary pair "manage a rare feat in After Tiller, making a calm, humanist docu about a hot-button topic." This is indeed tough material dealt with calmly and quietly.
After Tiller, 88 mins., debuted at Sundance January 2013. It is being released by the young maverick distributor Oscilloscope. The US theatrical release will begin in NYC Sept. 20, 2013 (Film Forum and the Film Society of Lincoln center Elinor Bunin Theater). Screened for this review as part of the SFIFF.
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7875/f9ov.jpg
ROBINSON AND SELLA, ABOVE; HERN AND CARHART, BELOW
Late term abortion: a world of impossible choices
Abortion is controversial; late term abortion, because the fetus is more developed and may be viable, is more so. This is a documentary about the four constantly tormented physicians in the US who continue to perform late-term third trimester abortions (after the twentieth week of pregnancy), in the wake of the 2009 assassination in Wichita, Kansas of Dr. George Tiller. They are Dr. Susan Robinson and Dr. Shelley Sella, who perform abortions at a clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexica; Dr. Warren Hern, the Director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Boulder, Colorado; and Dr. LeRoy Carhart, with an abortion clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska, who has begun running a clinic in Maryland since a law in Nebraska has prevented late term abortions there. All of these doctors worked with, and are inspired by, Dr. Tiller.
This film is good at showing the four doctors' lives, outlooks, and their and their counselors' conferences with patients and considering of their decisions. It considers some pro-life arguments, such as that fetuses feel pain (the Obstetrics and gynaecology community says no), but it does not go into the abortion procedures in detail, nor into the differences in state laws, or the situation of abortion in the rest of the globe. These omissions are understandable, because the procedures are painful to consider and variations in laws in the US and worldwide are tangled and confusing. From the bioethics viewpoint, this film nonetheless provides some good material, except that it does not consider the anti-abortion position in any detail, except insofar as in each case considered the doctors and the patients would rather not have an abortion if it did not seem imperative. Note that: late-term abortions account for only 1% of abortions performed; most of them are to terminate planned pregnancies when the mothers have discovered their baby is seriously malformed or ill and will live only a short life of pain, if delivered.
This film shows that "pro-life," anti-abortion activists are always picketing the clinics where the doctors practice. In particular it shows how they sought to prevent Dr. Carhart from coming to Maryland. And though the laws in Maryland were most beneficial to Carhart, it was difficult for him to find anyone who would rent to him. Todd Stave, the owner who rented to him, actually became more resolved to do so after anti-abortionists resorted to picketing the school his son attended. Satve's father performed abortions and was victimized by opponents. These doctors are all fighting back against the anti-abortion camp, refusing to be intimidated, knowing that they may meet Dr. Tiller's fate, but preferring to do what they think right rather than back down. They are getting older --- in fact Dr. Tiller was sixty-seven, but, though Dr. Hern takes more time off to spend with his sedond wife and her son (he has married recently), they can't retire, because there is no one to replace them. This is controversial work. It's war. Tiller was shot as he attended church. The pro-life camp doesn't play fair. Killing people or humiliating the child of a man who rents to an abortion doctor is abhorrent.
Shane and Wilson deftly provide just enough details about the lives and personalities of the doctors to make them three-dimensional. Dr. Carhart's wife, with whom he says he's been together since they were twelve, manages the clinic. They also raise and board horses. When back in the eighties a fire killed a lot of their horses and anti-abortionists said it was justified punishment for killing babies, that strengthened his wife's determination to be involved in the work. There is less about Dr. Susan Robinson, but there is more footage of her in her clinic with patients and her counselors considering individual cases. She says that the only reason she can say no ultimately is that the procedure would not be safe for the patient. These four doctors are all unusually tough and compassionate.
This film doesn't clarify for me what stand to take about abortion in general, or all the arguments pro or con. There aren't any easy choices here. This is one of the knottiest issues, and late-term abortion is the toughest kind of abortion to consider. A look at these doctors was worthwhile. Alissa Simon of Variety (http://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/after-tiller-1117949021) concludes this debuting documentary pair "manage a rare feat in After Tiller, making a calm, humanist docu about a hot-button topic." This is indeed tough material dealt with calmly and quietly.
After Tiller, 88 mins., debuted at Sundance January 2013. It is being released by the young maverick distributor Oscilloscope. The US theatrical release will begin in NYC Sept. 20, 2013 (Film Forum and the Film Society of Lincoln center Elinor Bunin Theater). Screened for this review as part of the SFIFF.