At First Unitarian Society, we are dedicated to issues of social justice and change. As part of this work, we offer the First Friday Film Series. Each month we choose a film that highlights an issue of importance to our values, and offer a free screening to members of our congregation and the broader community. All are welcome! With questions, please contact Social Justice Coordinator Kristi Sprague at kristis@fusmadison.org.
This Month's Film
Our film for October, Personhood: Policing Pregnant Women in America, tells the story of Tammy Loertscher, a Wisconsin woman who was incarcerated under the “Unborn Children Protection Act” (Act 292). This moving documentary reframes the abortion debate to encompass the growing system of laws that criminalize and police pregnant women.
Rev. Kelly Asprooth-Jackson will lead a discussion after this film.
Date: October 6, 2023
Time: Potluck at 5:30 pm; Film at 6:30 pm
Location: First Unitarian Society of Madison
About the Film
Personhood: Policing Pregnant Women in America
Directed by: Jo Ardinger
Release date: November 2019
Synopsis:
PERSONHOOD tells a different reproductive rights story – one that ripples far beyond the right to choose and into the lives of every pregnant person in America. Like a moment from the chilling “Handmaid’s Tale,” Tammy Loertscher’s fetus was given an attorney, while the courts denied Tammy her constitutional rights. In this timely documentary, we see her sent to jail, and then forced to challenge a Wisconsin law that eroded her privacy, her right to due process, and her body sovereignty. Through her story, PERSONHOOD reframes the abortion debate to encompass the growing system of laws that criminalize and police pregnant women. At the intersection of the erosion of women’s rights, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration, Tammy’s experience reveals the dangerous consequences of these little-known laws for American women and families. —Jo Ardinger