"Reversing Roe" is a deep historical look at one of the most controversial issues of our time, highlighting the abortion debate from various points along the ideological spectrum in a winding story of abortion in America.
The Supreme Court declared abortion legal 45 years ago in Roe v. Wade, and the ruling has been under siege nearly as long.
As Sedona Film Festival alumnae Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg chronicle in "Reversing Roe", over the decades legal challenges and restrictions have chipped away at women’s access to abortion, and the issue itself has become a hugely effective political tool. Those are the main, if unsurprising, take-aways from this solid, straightforward history of abortion rights in America.
Many documentaries about abortion rely on emotional, first-hand stories from women who have chosen, or been denied the choice, to end a pregnancy. "Reversing Roe" takes a more cerebral approach, using news footage and current interviews on both sides of the divide to try to illuminate the subject. Although the film makes no eye-opening revelations, it slowly gains power by conveying the weight of history that has led to the present moment, with abortion rights hanging in the balance of the Supreme Court.