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New documentary challenges the secrecy and denial surrounding abortion

“HUSH”, a film about abortion and women’s health, is a professional, persuasive piece of investigative journalism, fronted by Punam Kumar Gill, who manages to combine a dogged determination to break the silence surrounding abortion with a sensitivity borne out of her own personal experience of loss.

Image from "Hush" (hushfilm.com)

Abortion advocates claim to be very keen on talking about abortion. They want women to shout out their abortions, to express pride and joy in a procedure they increasingly acknowledge as an act of killing. Abortion campaigners encourage women to tweet their abortions, wear T-shirts proclaiming I had an abortion in the vain hope that this will somehow break the visceral horror that still surrounds abortion, decades after its legalization in Britain and the United States.

There are several problems with this approach: first, women aren’t proving too enthusiastic about pretending their abortion experiences were as splendid as the industry would like them to say it was; secondly, women who do talk about their abortions but express the ‘wrong attitude’ i.e. regret and grief, tend to find abortion campaigners are suddenly very keen for women to shut up about their abortions after all.

Thirdly, and most glaringly of all, when it comes to actually talking about abortion – the grisly procedure by which a tiny fetus is ripped limb from limb with forceps or suctioned out of the sanctuary of the womb by a vacuum aspirator – abortion advocates seriously do not want to know, and they particularly do not want women to know. Pussyhat wearing activists inexplicably get terribly coy about the whole thing and stumble through euphemisms about evacuating the uterine contents and gentle suction.

Along comes HUSH, a film produced “to find the truth for the sake of women’s health.” Intriguingly, the producer, director and executive producer have very different views on abortion, a partnership across an increasingly polarized debate that seems to have forced all parties to work very hard at maintaining a sense of perspective throughout the film, focusing solely on women’s health and the potential consequences of abortion for the women who have them.

The end product is a professional, persuasive piece of investigative journalism, fronted by Punam Kumar Gill, who manages to combine a dogged determination to break the silence surrounding abortion with a sensitivity borne out of her own personal experience of loss. With the film slowly gaining recognition worldwide, CWR spoke with Joses Martin, the film’s producer and editor, about how he came to be involved in the project and the challenges it has brought with it.

CWR: What was the genesis of this film? Was there a particular event or idea that inspired you to produce it?

Joses Martin: We first started thinking about this subject because we heard a woman speaking and sharing her story of having had multiple abortions at a young age, and she was reporting that they harmed her both physically and mentally, and that she ultimately regretted making those decisions. And she also brought up the very strange topic of abortion and breast cancer. This incited us to dig in a little bit, “What is this woman talking about?” To ask; “if she and others are reporting negative problems, then why wouldn’t that be shared on a public level?” We knew there was going to be one of two answers; A. Anti-abortion individuals were making up negative effects to attack the institution of abortion or B. Pro-abortion individuals were avoiding or covering up negative effects to protect the institution of abortion.

It reminded me very much of rape accusation cases—where women have come forward to say ‘someone hurt me’ and the general reaction is ‘how terrible of those women to say those terrible things about someone that we respect and trust’. They’re not listened to or respected, but are further hurt and accused back by a society that should be protecting them.

For the sake of these women involved, this investigation seemed to us like a worthwhile endeavour.

CWR: What were the main obstacles/challenges you faced while filming?

Joses Martin: We certainly found biases on both sides of the table, and this made the whole investigation messy, and tough to find the truth. Just a little bit of bias on a scientific level has a huge amount of potential to skew the data; by pointing at facts that support your view, and avoiding those that don’t. So that was difficult. And also, the fact that people just didn’t want to talk to us. Time after time we were denied interview by health organizations, researchers, abortion clinics, etc. Tough to do a doc or a full investigation when no one wants to talk to you! But this played into the final film in an interesting way in itself.

CWR: The notes on the film that you identify as neutral on the issue, whereas your executive producer is pro-life and the director pro-choice. How did that effect the dynamics of the film? Were there any major conflicts?

Joses Martin: There were constant conflicts between the group of us! It extended the process significantly but it also made for a very well-rounded presentation. We neutralized conversation about the morality of abortion to focus solely on these supposed hidden health risks involved, and we scaled back any extreme statements to focus only on well-supported findings.

CWR: What has the response to the film when it was released? What reaction did you get at film festivals? Were there any protests/walk-outs?

Joses Martin: We’ve had some protests and we’ve had some walkouts! Mainly by those directly involved in the abortion industry, or abortion advocacy organizations. We know that some people are unhappy about even opening up this conversation that they think should remain closed, shut and ‘hushed’. But what we’re most concerned with is the average open-minded individual, those like myself, with a complex view on the subject of abortion who want to put women’s health first, and from those people—whether card-carrying feminist, mother, film critic, or film maker—we’ve consistently heard stunned ‘wow’s, and a wide range of wonderful responses that hit everyone differently and inspire a variety of great thoughts and conversations.

Here is a quote from a Canadian female documentary director who recently watched the film:

“I think it makes us question medical practices for women in a very focused piece of journalism where the filmmaker has her own health at stake… When you know that most of our knowledge about the human body has historically been built on the male body (because women with their menstrual cycles were not seen as stable subjects), it is time that more understanding be made on how our gendered bodies function differently. This film gives us some understanding of the studies taking place and of the political positions of researchers. It is frightening to know that drug companies with their vested interests control much of the research that gets done. This film should be seen by women as it reveals the gender bias that is still with the medical establishment. It is a provocative feminist documentary delivered with a sense of urgency.”

CWR: To your knowledge, has the film helped re-open the debate about abortion and women’s health?

Joses Martin: Has it reopened the worldwide debate about abortion and women’s health? Not yet, no. But it’s a small part. The overall ‘safety’ of abortion is something that we don’t even attempt to tackle in the film, because it gets too complex, but the long-term risk is something that has never yet been included in this conversation in a real way, and it really is one of the most important aspects of the conversation. It’s not our goal to conclude whether abortion is ultimately safe or a good decision or not, we leave that up to the individual woman based on her individual ideals, but having all the information is vitally important to being able to make that decision for yourself and that’s what HUSH is really about.

CWR: What impact is the film having?

Joses Martin: The film is slowly gaining a large reach and impact, but it is a grass roots movement that starts from the ground up; individuals seeing the film and starting healthy conversations, sharing with others, and sharing with decision makers. Specifically, what we find is that even before reaching the public on a wide scale, it is reaching into government and educational institutions. Recently every MP in Australia was given a copy of the film, and I know that a lot of health organizations have been made aware of it at this point, even if they are keeping quiet on the topic while they still can.

CWR: Have you had difficulties with distribution because of the content?

Joses Martin: We definitely have had difficulties with the distribution because of the controversial content, we have had to distribute it ourselves because of this. Luckily there have been some very strong supporters of the film who have become passionate about getting it seen which has resulted in over 200 worldwide locally hosted screenings

CWR: Do you have plans for any further films on the subject of abortion?

Joses Martin: In the process one new topic that interested us quite a bit was the topic of men and abortion. People always think about abortion as fully a women’s subject, but indirectly men are always involved in one way or another—whether it’s pressuring and forcing women into an abortion, or feeling a long term sense of regret from that time they took their college girlfriend to get an abortion, or the abortion that was hidden from them by their wife and they only found out about years later. So we hope to pursue that topic further, but at the moment we’ve got quite a few other documentary projects on the go unrelated to the subject.

• For more information about the film and to organize a screening, check out the website at hushfilm.com


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About Fiorella Nash 38 Articles
Fiorella Nash is a researcher and writer for the London-based Society for the Protection of Unborn Children and has many years' experience researching life issues from a feminist perspective. She makes regular appearances at both national and international conferences and has appeared on radio and in print discussing issues such as abortion, gendercide, maternal health and commercial surrogacy. She is the author of The Abolition of Woman: How Radical Feminism Is Betraying Women (Ignatius Press, 2018), and is also an award-winning novelist, having published numerous books and short stories under the nom-de-plume Fiorella De Maria.

6 Comments

  1. Life begins at conception – if it’s growing it’s alive.

    Therefore abortion is murder – it always was, is now and will remain so.

  2. What will incur God’s wrath on Mankind if not abortion. The killing of innocent life created in God’s image. Satan’s vengeance against the Creator. Man’s responsibility in the mass killings: Since Roe v Wade 1973 the US counts 60 million. Worldwide since 1980 1 billion 459 million 480 thousand 387 and counting rapidly. Stats show a marked downturn in the US from approx 1 million 5 hundred thousand per year to approx 650 thousand. “Most of the reduction in abortions seen between 2008 and 2011 was in facilities performing a thousand or more abortions a year. A loss of 65 more such facilities
    from 2011 to 2014 was likely a big factor in the overall reduction.” Reduce the abortion clinics particularly Planned Parenthood and reduce abortions. The stats indicate making abortion more available increases the killing of innocent life. Those who vote for the Dem Party and its increasingly liberal abortion policy which now is even considering post natal murder are clearly accomplices.

  3. Hush, little baby, you’re just a blob,
    Momma doesn’t believe you’re a precious one.

    Since you’re in my womb and are my property, Momma’s gotta choice to take your life, yippee.

    Since SCOTUS says I can take your life,
    Momma’s gotta choice to buy and swallow a pill.

    If that pill doesn’t take care of you,
    Momma’s gotta choice to see Planned Parenthood.

    If the injection doesn’t give you a heart attack, Momma’s gotta choice to chemically burn your back.

    If that chemical napalm doesn’t do it’s job, Momma’s gotta choice to continue to use the abortion mob.

    Since the abortion mob has plenty of tools, Momma’s got one last choice that’s against the Golden Rule.

    Since you’re not a person as defined by law,
    Mama’s gotta a choice to rip you apart and use a saw.

    So hush little baby, don’t you cry,
    You’re better off dead, so bye bye, what a lie.

  4. I purchased “Hush” for Hartford Women’s Center a Pregnancy Resource Center in Hartford CT and have shown it to volunteers and moms alike. The moms in particular get very angry when they see how much they have been lied to!
    Very enlightening, we’ll be showing it again and again.

  5. This brings back memories of The Silent Scream, which showed an ultrasound image of a foetus recoiling from the scalpel, in a hopeless attempt to save herself.

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