My Body, Their Choice

Synopsis

Efforts to loosen the restrictive abortion law in Argentina may have failed but the country remains firmly divided. In the blue corner, a traditional Catholic elite who see abortion as murder. In the green corner, a rising movement of women fighting for the right to safe and legal abortion. We followed key participants on both sides of the debate in the lead-up to the most important vote in Argentina’s history: the decision on whether to legalise abortion.

Mariana Rodrí­guez Varela, known by her detractors as the Crazy Baby Lady, is the face of the Pro-Life campaign With her army of plastic foetuses, she is passionately pro-life. But the stories of women who suffered illegal abortions in horrific conditions show the horrific reality behind the pro-life rhetoric. And an undercover exposé of a fake abortion clinic secretly run by Catholic nuns reveals the pressure that women are under.

As the vote nears, things get heated on both a personal and national level, as Mariana’s dark family past crops up and our presenter is tear-gassed and water-cannoned by cops in an out-of-control protest.

Presented on behalf of Java Films.

Keywords & Tags

Society, Abortion, Argentina, Law