ROBINSON AND SELLA, ABOVE; HERN AND CARHART, BELOWLate term abortion: a world of impossible choicesAbortion is controversial; late term abortion, because the fetus is more developed and may be viable, is more so. This is a documentary about the four constantly tormented physicians in the US who continue to perform late-term third trimester abortions (after the twentieth week of pregnancy), in the wake of the 2009 assassination in Wichita, Kansas of Dr. George Tiller. They are Dr. Susan Robinson and Dr. Shelley Sella, who perform abortions at a clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexica; Dr. Warren Hern, the Director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Boulder, Colorado; and Dr. LeRoy Carhart, with an abortion clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska, who has begun running a clinic in Maryland since a law in Nebraska has prevented late term abortions there. All of these doctors worked with, and are inspired by, Dr. Tiller.
This film doesn't clarify for me what stand to take about abortion in general, or all the arguments pro or con. There aren't any easy choices here. This is one of the knottiest issues, and late-term abortion is the toughest kind of abortion to consider. A look at these doctors was worthwhile. Alissa Simon of
Variety concludes this debuting documentary pair "manage a rare feat in
After Tiller, making a calm, humanist docu about a hot-button topic." This is indeed tough material dealt with calmly and quietly.
After Tiller, 88 mins., debuted at Sundance January 2013. Included in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. It is being released by the young maverick distributor Oscilloscope. Opens on Friday, September 20 in New York at Film Forum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
This is a preview. A longer review will appear on theatrical release.