Abortion has once again become a hot topic, with the upcoming election possibly changing decades of social policy on the issue. As such, the Independent Media Center is providing more fuel to the fire by screening two groundbreaking documentaries by filmmakers Sarah Diehl and Angie Young: Abortion Democracy: Poland/South Africa and The Coat Hanger Project. The first, Abortion Democracy by Diehl is a Berlin-based film which compares and contrasts the differences in policies in South Africa and Poland regarding abortion and their impact on the lives of women, arguing for a liberalization of abortion laws. Young’s The Coat Hanger Project focuses on the current state of the Unites States’ pro-choice/reproductive movement 35 years after Roe v. Wade and specifically targets the post-1973 generation.
Filmmakers Diehl and Young will be at the IMC to participate in a Q&A after the screenings and artwork by Heather Ault will also be on display — she describes her work as, ”…the history of contraception and abortion through visual narratives as a way to reframe how the public understand women’s reproductive health care.”
The event begins tonight at 7 p.m. and both films are free. The Independent Media Center is located at 202 S. Broadway St. in Urbana.