Voices of Choice: Physicians Who Provided Abortions Before Roe v. Wade
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are proud to offer the documentary Voices of Choice: Physicians Who Provided Abortions Before Roe v. Wade, online, in full, for the first time.
A 25-minute film created by PRCH in 2003, Voices of Choice documents the experiences of physicians involved in abortion care and reform prior to the landmark Supreme Court Roe decision in 1973. Their stories remain fascinating, moving, and profound—a record of the horror of illegal abortion and the social and historical ramifications of a time when health care providers worked to save the lives of women who suffered needlessly.
Voices of Choice preserves the legacy of older physicians and figures in the reproductive rights movement who witnessed the effects of illegal abortion, including:
- Curtis Boyd, MD, who has provided abortions since 1965
- Bylle Avery, founder of the National Black Women’s Health Project, who prior to Roe was a leader in the underground abortion referral network
- Mildred Hanson, MD, who saw the tragic results of illegal abortion as a young gynecologist in the years before Roe
- The late Reverend Howard Moody, who helped found the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion in 1967, an extensive network of clergy members and abortion providers
- The late George Tiller, MD, who was murdered in 2009 for providing abortions
Watch the full video, and follow the links below to read transcripts from individual interviews. To request an interview with one of the physicians featured in the Voices of Choice video, please contact Alexandra Ringe at 646-649-9907 or email alexandra@prch.org.