The Endless Battle for Abortion in Texas
Radio Télévision
Suisse | 14min
Postproduction script
Protester
That baby in your womb is a precious gift
from God. Psalm 139 of the Bible says: God is weaving this baby into your womb,
lady!
Voiceover
A Whitney Houston hit and some rattles, to
drown out the Bible verses shouted by fanatics. In Jackson, Mississippi, this
pink house is the only clinic in the state that still performs abortions. And
every day, in the streets, opponents of abortion try to intimidate patients and
those who accompany them.
Protester
God gave man the responsibility to protect
women and children, not to take them where they will be hurt and killed.
Voiceover
Facing them are the clinical escorts, like
Derenda Hancock, who are in charge
of accompanying and protecting the patients.
0’50” Derenda
Hancock, clinic escort
I want people to know that we are here, I
want everyone to know that we are here, and that we are proud of what we do.
Voiceover
Yet the mission of escorts is becoming
increasingly difficult. Because under the blows of boutoir
of conservative states as Mississippi or Texas the right of the women to have
of their body is reduced like skin of chagrin.
1’05” TITLE
A rich suburb of Dallas, in the heart of
Texas, a state where a ferocious battle is being waged for the right to
abortion. It is here that Maleeha Aziz lives, with
her husband and her two years old daughter. Eight years ago, Maleeha, fresh from Pakistan, became pregnant. An unwanted
pregnancy.
1’32” Maleeha
Aziz
I had ambitions, dreams, I wanted to go to
college, that's why I came to the US. I wanted a job,
I wasn't thinking about children at that time. I didn't even know if I wanted
them. But I really wasn't ready to be a mother at that time.
Voiceover
As she has no money, she goes to a centre that offers her a free ultrasound. Not knowing that
it is an anti-abortion centre. Where she is led to
believe that her pregnancy is too far advanced to have an abortion in Texas.
Maleeha Aziz
When they told me I couldn't have an
abortion in Texas, I panicked, I was distraught, I started crying, I was
hysterical.
Voiceover
Family members eventually pay for her to
travel to Colorado and have the operation. Total cost: $2000.
Maleeha Aziz
If my family hadn't paid, I wouldn't have
been able to do it. I would not have had an abortion,
I would have been forced to continue this pregnancy. And life would have been
terrible.
Voiceover
Today, Maleeha
Aziz is a caring and happy mother. Her 2-year-old daughter is in school, so she
is taking the opportunity to start wrapping Christmas presents. Stories like
hers are rare. Few women in the United States are willing to talk openly about
their abortions.
Maleeha Aziz
When you just say the word 'abortion' here
in America, it stops all conversations. People look at you strangely, they are
embarrassed. There is this shock, this horror, associated with abortion here.
Voiceover
And yet, Maleeha
Aziz's case is far from isolated: more than 600,000 abortions are performed
every year in the United States. Maleeha is now
dedicated to defending abortion rights. Because things have gotten even worse
in Texas. Last May, the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, signed into law SB8,
which bans all abortions beyond 6 weeks of amenorrhea, or about 4 weeks of
pregnancy.
3’17” Courtesy of Texas Governor’s
office
In Houston, Texas, Poppy Northcutt is a
NASA veteran, the first woman to be in mission control. Now she is a lawyer,
advocating for women's right to abortion. But she can only see the devastation
of the new law.
3’27” Courtesy of Los Angeles Times
3’44” Poppy Northcutt, lawyer
It allows anyone to sue anyone who
performs an abortion, or helps a woman have one after 6 weeks. Who can afford
to be sued anytime, anywhere, by anyone? What if a judge says, well, I've
decided to award $1 million to the person suing you?
Voiceover
As a result, many doctors are throwing in
the towel. This is the Houston clinic where Dr Bernard Rosenfeld practices. He
is 80 years old and began performing abortions in 1971 in California, before it
was even legal in the rest of the country. But now he has to
turn away patients.
4’35” Dr Bernard Rosenfeld,
obstetrician-gynaecologist
We had a woman come in, she was 6 weeks
and three days, there was a heartbeat, there was nothing we could do. She
looked us straight in the eye and said: even if it's rape? But that's what the
law says. That's exactly what happened. It's very sad.
Voiceover
The clinic's waiting room is now empty.
The number of abortions performed here has decreased by 2/3. Most patients have to go to another state to terminate their pregnancy. An
aberration.
Dr Bernard Rosenfeld, obstetrician-gynaecologist
These women have a hard enough time
travelling 30 km to the clinic. So, to get out of the state? It's so difficult,
who's going to look after the other children, they're going to lose their jobs.
It's really sad.
Voiceover
Another effect of the law is that doctors
like Dr. Rosenfeld cannot retire, because there is no
succession.
Dr Bernard Rosenfeld, obstetrician-gynaecologist
This prevents younger doctors from
learning to perform abortions, and from being able to do them. They are afraid
of losing their right to practice medicine, they are afraid of lawsuits. It's a
big problem in the US.
Voiceover
Even if legal, abortion is a taboo subject
in the US. Few abortion clinics are open for business. Most of the time, they
are hidden in anonymous buildings, where nothing suggests their presence.
Because if the clinics are out in the
open, they attract opponents of abortion. Just across the street from Houston's
Planned Parenthood, a blue bus has set up shop for the day. It is decorated
with hundreds of photos of healthy, smiling babies. And its illuminated sign
advertises free pregnancy tests. On the pavement, a volunteer greets anyone who
walks into the family planning clinic. She tries to lead them to the bus.
We went inside to see what the interior
looked like.
Dialogue
⁃ Is this where
they do the pregnancy test?
⁃ Yes, and we analyse the test in this room, this is the lab
Voiceover
And at the back of the bus, an ultrasound
machine. Under the eye of the Virgin Mary, the technician does not give the
expectant mothers the option of abortion.
6’58” Jane Rayna, ultrasound
technician
We talk, and I always talk to them about
adoption, even though it's a very generous act. Because there are a lot of
families who can't be complete on their own.
Voiceover
The bus is steeped in religious imagery.
For Christian extremists are the source of virtually all anti-abortion
sentiment in the US. And at the root of the new Texas law is a small town in
the eastern part of the state.
Welcome to Waskom, population 2,000 and
over twenty churches. The mayor is very proud of the mural that adorns the
entrance to his town. And that he hastened to let us admire.
8’05” Jesse Moore, Mayor of
Waskom
Jim's restaurant, barbecue
and catfish, still there. Futch's gas station. And of
course, the Texas flag, and the sanctuary city for the unborn. We're proud to
have that here.
Voiceover
In 2019, a rumor is spreading in Waskom
that an abortion clinic is about to move in.
Jesse Moore, Mayor of Waskom
We did not want an abortion clinic in the
town of Waskom. I personally don't believe in abortion. I think it's wrong.
Voiceover
And the city council agrees with its
mayor. They unanimously passed an ordinance making the city the first in Texas
to ban abortion.
8’15” Courtesy of NBC6
Jesse Moore, Mayor of Waskom
The council passed the ordinance. Everyone
applauded and congratulated the council members who passed it. I didn't hear
one negative Voiceover. Not a single one.
Voiceover
On this Sunday morning, the people of the
city gather for mass. In the Baptist church, Pastor Ivy Shelton welcomes his
flock.
Dialogue
How's everybody doing? Good to see you.
Hello, how is Martin? Is he cold? Has he bought his new coat yet?
Voiceover
The church has of course supported the
municipal ordinance. The pastor, however, is convinced that good has triumphed
over evil.
9’15” Dr Ivy Shelton, Pastor in Waskom
I was thinking of a verse in Jeremiah,
chapter 1, where God says: I formed you in the womb, I knew you, I appointed
you a prophet among the nations. We believe that life begins at conception. We
believe that God has plans for the unborn, and that's why we take a stand for
them.
Voiceover
But Pastor Shelton's mission does not stop
at his church or even his city. He plans to use his faith to spearhead
political change.
Ivy Shelton, pastor
We would like America to be a country
without abortion. To me, this country was founded on Christian principles. I
think Christian principles should have an influence on our laws, on our land. I
think that was the intention of our founders.
Voiceover
A desire to impose its values and beliefs,
which could very soon become a reality.
Back in Mississippi. It's barely 6:30 in
the morning, but Derenda Hancock is already at work
Derenda Hancock, clinic escort
The protesters love to look over our
fence. So every morning we put these signs up. That
way at least it's a little harder for them to invade the privacy of the
patients.
These are our stereo speakers. When the
anti's get really loud on the pavement, yelling at the
patients, we turn it up.
Voiceover
Cory Drake is also a clinic escort. Every
day, before going to work, he comes here to help women.
10’56” Cory Drake, clinic escort
When I put this jacket on, it makes me
sad, because I hate having to do this, I hate that women
can't have free access to health care, without being bombarded by everything
that's thrown at them. But I'm glad I can do it.
Voiceover
The first patients arrive. The
anti-abortionists are of course there, determined to be heard.
Protester
You have a little boy or girl, you can't have anything but a little boy or girl.
Most people in America are stupid. They
talk about women's rights, women's rights to do what? If she gets pregnant, she
has no rights, that child is not hers, it is not her child!
Voiceover
As far as the escorts are concerned, they
do their utmost to protect their patients from the harangues of these street
preachers. These women must be reassured and the
situation played down.
Derenda Hancock, escort clinic
We've got a couple of protesters outside,
they can never get in, you don't have to talk to them.
It's all right, sweetheart, you're here
for a medical procedure, okay? Don't worry about those crazy people, it's all
good.
Voiceover
Street prayers are being organised. With a religious fervour
that borders on hysteria.
Protester
If God is the Creator and he is good, then
these babies are good. And these people, who are going through hard times, He
cares about them too. We are not just there for the children, we are there for
the mothers, the fathers. To understand their burden, their pain, and to show
them something more important than abortion, something that will not only save
their child, but also their soul.
Voiceover
But they are not going to be left out in
the cold.
Derenda Hancock, clinic escort
We're here to respond. We want them to
know that they are not welcome here, not for the staff, not for us and not for
the patients. We're going to do everything in our power to disturb them while
they're here.
Voiceover
But the clinic may be living its last
days. The Supreme Court must decide whether Mississippi has the right to
further restrict abortion. If the answer is yes, it will automatically repeal
Roe v Wade, the decision that allows abortion in the US. In Mississippi, as in
Texas and most southern states, abortion will be completely banned. Marking the
return of clandestine procedures
Derenda Hancock, clinic escort
Pregnant women who want an abortion will
have an abortion. If it's not safe and legal, they'll try something else. Like
drinking bleach. Or turpentine. Like before Roe v Wade.
Voiceover
But for now, Derenda
and the others are not giving up. Even if the future is uncertain, they will
continue to help women exercise what is still, for the moment, their
constitutional right.
Reporting: Aviva Fried, Christèle Jaime, Back To You
Productions