(Left to right: Jamie Levitt, Wendy Ettinger, Luisa Cabal, Gloria Pitagorsky, Alessandra Zeka, Holen Kahn, and Judith Helfand)On March 15th, Story Leads to Action celebrated Women's History Month at 92YTribeca with a special work-in-progress screening of A Quiet Inquisition, by filmmakers Alessandra Zeka & Holen Kahn.
After the screening, Jamie Levitt—head of Morrison Foerster's New York Litigation Department and member of the Board of the Center for Reproductive Rights--moderated a discussion with the filmmakers and Director of International Legal Program with Center for Reproductive Rights, Luisa Cabal.
A Quiet Inquisition tells the story of political ambitions, religious influences and the failures of a revolution that promised rights and economic justice for all and sold off some of them -- women's health, in the form of making abortion illegal -- in exchange for holding onto their political power.
Dr. Carla Cerrato's daily routine as an OBGYN doctor at a public hospital in Managua, Nicaragua changed when a new set of laws were passed that entirely prohibited abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman's life is at stake. Since then, she has had to navigate between disregarding her medical ethics by obeying the law, or risking incarceration by breaking the law to treat girls and women she believes are in danger.
Shot on location in Nicaragua, this documentary provides a stark look at an extreme situation of prohibition, its context and its impact through the experience of one doctor caught within it.
According to Luisa Cabal, reproductive rights are grounded in human rights; to achieve and maintain reproductive rights, activists are approaching human rights organizations and stating the ways in which preventing proper health care access is a violation of human rights. Withholding emergency treatment for women suffering from hemorrhaging and shock--whether from an incorrectly performed abortion or from a biologically-occurring miscarriage--is deemed torture.
Women who have what the law enforcement deems to be a "mysterious" issue with a pregnancy--such as a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy--can be persecuted and charged with homicide. Luisa Cabal cited a case in Central America regarding a women who suffered a miscarriage was sentenced to 30 years in prison and served nine years before her sentence was overturned. --When issues are prohibited, all logic falls apart and every action becomes suspicious and due process is violated every step of the way.
Why is there a war on women? -- Filmmaker Holen Kahn stated that during research, she and co-filmmaker Alessandra Zeka discovered women played an influential role in the revolutions in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Women were fighting alongside men and achieving power within the public sphere--this led to backlash. The mobility of culture and politics pushed women backwards. This exemplifies the ever historic suppression of women through punishment of sexuality.
Reproductive rights will be a large issue in the United States during the 2012 presidential campaign. In a country where healthcare is touted as accessible and a citizen right, women are subjected to unnecessary, expensive, and invasive procedures.
Although documentaries such as A Quiet Inquisition cannot serve as evidence in court, such footage can be used to activate awareness.
COMING UP on STORY LEADS TO ACTION:
APR 19th: selects from GREEN SHALL OVERCOME in conjunction with Earth Day. Follows the controversial environmental activist Van Jones and his dream for America: a green economy strong enough to life people out of poverty. Handpicked by the Obama Administration to help create a new energy policy for the nation, his vision collides with the partisan politics of Washington.
