On Hostile Ground (2001)

Synopsis: ON HOSTILE GROUND is a controversial documentary that explores the issues faced by doctors who perform abortions. In first person narration, three different doctors reveal the moral, emotional,... ON HOSTILE GROUND is a controversial documentary that explores the issues faced by doctors who perform abortions. In first person narration, three different doctors reveal the moral, emotional, political, legal, and personal challenges of the profession, shedding new light on the topic of abortion. Filmmakers Liz Mermin and Jenny Raskin create a cautionary tale depicting the chilling effect the recent threats that violence has had on doctors in the abortion profession. Using the 1998 murder of abortion practitioner Dr. Barnett Slepian in his own Buffalo, New York home as a catalyst for discussion and awareness, the doctors reflect on their own experiences of working and living in a nation that is becoming more and more like a terrorist state for those choosing to practice abortions. Dr. Richard Stuntz is a 76 year old OB-GYN from Baltimore, Maryland who commutes three days a week to Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama in order to perform abortions for impoverished women whose own communities are torn apart by racial and religious strife. Susan Cahill is an outspoken physician's assistant performing abortions with Dr. James Armstrong in their rural Montana town. In 1994 their office was burned down in an anti-abortion arson and in 1994 the county threatened to arrest Dr. Armstrong for letting Cahill perform abortions. Cahill won her case but was further vilified when the state passed "The Susan Cahill Law," prohibiting physician's assistants from performing abortions, which Cahill and Armstrong fought and reversed during the filming of the documentary. Dr. Morris Wortman is a OB-GYN practicing in Rochester, New York who champions pro-choice causes and refuses to live in fear of terrorist acts. Inspired by the murder of Dr. Plebian and his own mother's experience as a concentration camp survivor who attempted to self-abort when she was pregnant with Wortman, he considers abortion a public health concern and fights vehemently to spread awareness. This compelling and profoundly educational documentary humanizes the doctors who fight for women's reproductive rights while reminding the viewers just how dangerous it is getting to continue the struggle. [More]

Starring: Morris Wortman, Richard Stuntz, Susan Cahill

Starring: Morris Wortman, Richard Stuntz, Susan Cahill

Director: Liz Mermin, Jenny Raskin

Director: Liz Mermin, Jenny Raskin
Producer: Catherine Gund
Studio: Cowboy Pictures

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