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Our Bodies, Our Doctors
Our Bodies, Our Doctors

Jan Haaken’s latest documentary feature, Our Bodies, Our Doctors will premiere at the 42nd Annual Portland International Film Festival on International Women’s Day – Friday March 8, 2019.

Our Bodies, Our Doctors tells the rarely-discussed story of what it means to be an abortion provider today: confronting threats of violence and facing intensified political threats and efforts to criminalize abortion. Religious control over health care is expanding, including in many pro-choice states. The abortion debate continues to be defined by gruesome images of the anti-abortion movement. In contrast, this film provides a crucial, hopeful point of view: an intimate glimpse into the lives of these courageous providers who have devoted their careers to ensuring women have access to skilled, compassionate care.The film also features Portland providers, often unsung heroes, who have taken national leadership roles in the fight for women’s reproductive rights.

“When I took on this documentary project, I was struck by how little people knew—even those that are pro-choice—about what’s actually involved in abortion care. What I found in making Our Bodies, Our Doctors was a quiet rebellion in the field of medicine led by a new generation of progressive physicians fighting religious control over healthcare. The providers in the film take up difficult questions: How do they think about the challenges of early versus later term abortions? What makes second term abortions medically and emotionally challenging, for the providers themselves and for their women patients? These are areas where pro-choice films have previously not ventured. But the providers featured in this film—and many of their patients–are bold and brave enough to take us there.” – Jan Haaken, Director, Our Bodies Our Doctors

Nearly 1 in 4 American women have an abortion during their lifetime, yet the doctors who perform this commonplace procedure are rarely talked about or seen. Our Bodies, Our Doctors follows these quiet heroes behind the scenes and into the procedure room, showing their strength and compassion for women. The film shows audiences what it’s like to bean abortion care provider today. It’s a journey into the sacrifices they make and the threats, violence and intensified political efforts to criminalize abortion these providers confront as religious extremist control over health care expands, even in pro-choice states. The movie is a voice for these silent heroes who are standing firm for an individual woman’s right to choose her fate and that of her body in a timely and sound manner.

Our Bodies, Our Doctors will premiere at the 2019 Portland International Film Festival on International Women’s Day – Friday March 8, 2019 at 8:45pm and will screen again on Tuesday March 12th at 6:00pm. Both screenings will be held at the Whitsell Auditorium and tickets will be available to the public on February 15th.

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