September 29th, 2018, 1:30pm – 3:15pm
University of Winnipeg, Room 1L13 (Lockhart Hall), 515 Portage Avenue
In the US today, a radical movement has tightened its grip on state power, seeking to control whether and how women bear children. In this crusade, pregnant women are subject to state control, surveillance, and punishment. Even women who don’t want an abortion face shocking risks—like the pregnant woman in Alabama who faced criminal charges for taking half a Valium. Or like the grieving woman in Nebraska who, already devastated by a bleak diagnosis at 22 weeks, was forced to continue an nonviable and dangerous pregnancy because of a new “fetal pain” law. Birthright: A War Story tells stories of women caught up in a frightening new legal system, which criminalizes and physically violates women, threatens lives, and challenges their constitutional protections. These stories are a warning to those who take their rights for granted.
