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A trilogy of documentaries about abortion rights, directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman, will have national broadcast premieres on selected PBS stations and other venues around the country (add or replace "other venues" with specific date and time if the PBS or Cable Access station in your community has made that information available) beginning in January, 1998. This distinctive series, FROM THE BACK ALLEYS to the SUPREME COURT & BEYOND, produced with PBS station KTEH-TV, sheds light on the human dimension of the personal, medical, and political issues surrounding abortion.
 
Participants who were on the front lines during the pre-Roe days, as well as those involved in the abortion issue now, speak candidly about their experiences. The series is marked by its intimate interviews with clergy who organized underground networks during the years of criminalized abortion, physicians who risk their lives every day, legislators who jeopardize their careers to counteract anti-choice legislation, and women who themselves went to the back-alleys. These stories elevate the discussion of abortion from the divisively political to the personal.
 
The series spans more than a century. WHEN ABORTION WAS ILLEGAL documents the back-alley days. FROM DANGER to DIGNITY chronicles the fight to change the laws and spotlights the clandestine networks set up to provide safe illegal abortions. THE FRAGILE PROMISE of CHOICE takes an unflinching look at where we are now, twenty-five years after Roe v Wade was decided. More than forty awards and honors for films in the trilogy include an OSCAR nomination, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting GOLD MEDAL, the GOLD HUGO from the Chicago International Film Festival and two GOLD APPLES from the National Educational Media Festival.
 
A broadcast list detailing when and on which stations the films will be telecast will be available in December by sending an e-mail to Julie Mikalson at juliemik@teleport.com or a fax request to (503) 288-7227. Information about becoming a member of the nationwide outreach team is also available at that number. Copies of the documentary trilogy are available for purchase, at a special price of $69 for the trilogy to organizations and individuals by calling 1-800-253-7678. The individual films are available at that number also. Many groups have used these films as the highlight for fundraising events, community gatherings, house parties and as organizing tools. We hope your group will consider joining our outreach. For more information see our Web site at http://www.concentric.org .