Roe v. Wade

Thank you. Good to see you.

Thank you for taking the time.

So, when you take them out, you don't see anything?

No, you don't see anything.

I-I-I mean, of all the thousands of second trimester abortions

that I've done, I mean, maybe I've seen half a dozen.

But didn't it bother you when you did?

No, not particularly.

It was the end product;

a lifeless, limp thing lying there.

They have a human form.

Oh, absolutely.

I-I-I'm sorry. I-I'm a little bit confused.

Uh.

First you said, "All you see is bloody meat."

Hm-mm.

But now you're saying you always knew it was a person.

So Doctor,

which one is it?

I didn't know what to say.

I felt I was caught in a lie.

So, you have to understand, it was the '70s.

The women's liberation movement was exploding.

Millions of women were taking to the streets,

and I got swept up in the way.

saying now that anything after eight weeks

is murder, which I'm all for.

I'm protesting the protesters.

Proverbs 14:12.

"There is a way that seems right unto man,

but in the end thereof, the way is death."

Well, sir, I was in the parking lot

and I saw some people's signs and I said,

"What's happening today?" And they said,

"They're protesting the governor's decision."

I don't want a bunch of old white dudes

regulating my body.

I want us to stand up

for the innocent lives of children

that are being aborted in the womb,

and to stop the bloodshed.

I mean, in proportion, 12-year-olds can get abortions

in public schools and without parental consent.

That's happened in the States.

In Virginia, if you have a baby,

they put it on a table and they ask the parents

do you want it to live a lie.

My life.

my decision!

My life.

my decision!

You have to sacrifice your pawn to save your queen.

It all started in my 20s.

That's Ruth, my first love.

See, my family was Jewish

so I tried to get them to warm up to her.

But I had a better chance of beating my dad at chess.

Check.

Pawns are the soul of a game.

You don't need the queen to win the game.

Checkmate.

You have to sacrifice for the greater good.

How could I have been so stupid.

Maybe we can get married.

No. Not like this. Not yet.

You do know I love you, right?

I can't take care of a baby right now.

Oh, that's what you want.

I can't tell my family about this.

My father won't help.

What am I going to do, Bernie?

Honey, it's we, and we're in this together, okay?

Okay.

I would have married her,

but she didn't want that.

So, I gave her $500. That way, nobody had to know.

I never thought I would lose Ruth.

I became a doctor

to make sure no girl ever had to go through that again.

I will give no deadly medicine, nor suggest any such counsel;

nor give to a woman a pessary to procure an abortion.

Like most doctors,

I would violate the Hippocratic oath.

But saving women was all that mattered.

I know everyone has their own version of events.

But if you really want to know

how abortion became legal in our country,

I will tell you the true story

of Roe v. Wade.

I wanted to get abortion legalized across the country.

Our master plan to do that

started right here in New York City.

That's Betty Friedan,

the leader of the women's movement.

You see, we needed her gals if we had any chance of winning.

Ah-ha. Not again. Mrs. Friedan.

The Plaza's Oak Room has a 61-year tradition

of men's only lunches.

Well, well, well.

If it isn't the world-famous author of The Feminine Mystique,

Mrs. Betty Friedan.

Mr. Larry Lader.

Larry was my best friend.

He was the father of the abortion movement.

And he was also mentored by Margaret Sanger,

the founder of Planned Parenthood.

Now, here's the ugly truth.

Margaret opened clinics in poor Black neighborhoods

and called it the Negro Project.

The mass of Negroes, particularly in the South,

still breed carelessly and disastrously.

The result that the increase among Negroes,

more than among whites,

is that portion of the population

least intelligent and fit.

Her goal was to reduce

the Black population,

either through birth control or sterilization.

She literally wanted to stop Black people

from having babies altogether.

And Larry continued her work by launching an organization

to legalize abortion,

and wrote the first nationwide book on the topic.

Have you happened to read my book?

Did you prance over here

to have me fawn over your vanity project?

Cyril here works for the ACLU.

We can have him sue the Plaza if you like.

A girl should not expect special privileges

because of her sex,

but neither should she adjust to prejudice or discrimination.

I-I'm Bernard.

An obstetrician officially,

until they get the laws repealed.

Cyril is also the lead counsel

for Planned Parenthood.

So, why are you boys so worked up about abortion?

Well, Cyril is gonna head legal,

Bernie, medical.

I would like him to open up a clinic.

Larry, listen, I've told you a million times.

I'm not gonna ruin my reputation over this.

The women need your help.

Opening a clinic will land him in hot water

like Vuitch.

Exactly. And I'm much better to you out of jail.

A bunch of disorganized men

are gonna rid this country of abortion restriction?

No, no, no. We're not disorganized, okay.

- If Bernie... - We're looking for

a pregnant girl to challenge the abortion laws.

If New York falls, the country falls.

If that doesn't work, we'll lobby the legislature.

I guess I can provide medical research

to prove our opinion.

We wanna rally behind the women's movement

to get the TV media on board.

So that's why you need me.

We need to continue Margaret Sanger's work.

Oh, well.

Thank you so much for this explanation.

But abortion is really not our focus.

You're gonna regret it

when you see Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug

hopping on board and everybody else.

You're our first choice.

Yeah? Why?

Because you're the best.

Betty came on board

and brought her core of feminists.

We all launched NARAL together,

the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws.

Did I tell you?

Did I tell you?

Looks like I started a revolution.

I mean... I told you, you should open a clinic.

Well, you know, you're probably right about the clinic.

But listen, I-I gotta look after Adele and Joey, so.

Are you not seeing this?

Yeah, but do you really think

we should go for full repeal?

I say we go for abortion on demand!

Yeah.

Listen, come on. We don't need to get greedy.

Can't we just do this for health or if a woman gets raped?

You know, wouldn't it just be better for that?

We don't need to go for abortion on demand.

No, no, no.

We have to go for the full enchilada.

Otherwise, we'll get nothing.

Cyril's correct.

We can't turn a woman's body into a business negotiation.

You just won a fabulous trip to London.

It's worth over $1,000. Congratulations, sir.

Your dinner's in the oven, if you wanna heat it up.

Thank you, sweetheart.

Like always!

Oh, come on, not again.

Eighteen-hour days?

What's her name?