Hollywood Does Abortion

Directed by Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, Mike Attie

HOLLYWOOD DOES ABORTION reveals how, from the 1970s to the present, film and television have too often relied on dangerously misleading distortions about abortions and the people who seek them. This provocative and lively feature length documentary explores the ways in which abortion narratives onscreen and public policy both mimic and influence one another. Extensive archival imagery spans five decades of television and film, ranging from Maude and Dirty Dancing to Jane the Virgin and Juno, and creates a historical timeline to support the “story” of the film. In Hollywood Does Abortion, leading directors, writers, showrunners, and cultural critics share their personal and political reactions to these seminal depictions through the lens of today’s post-Roe world. Today, we see how a wide range of diverse Hollywood creators are racing to tell stories that push back against the seismic shift in access to abortion.