Reversing Roe

This documentary showcases the many dimensions of the politicized abortion In the United States. It gives you a facutal ground about the opposing sides, and illustrates the extreme power and responsibility that the appointed judges have in the Supreme Court.

It will however make you very upset when you realize that the opposing side has a lot of men in powerful positions making decisions about women. An eye opening documentary for sure, a must see for both men and women.

I'd first like to say this review is an actual FILM review, not a diatribe of my own opinions. Some users of this site seem to put their own viewpoints ahead of a real review, which is what IMDB is for. Although I expected as much. But there was so much nuance and complexity that could've been covered here; I'm disappointed yet unsurprised that it wasn't that sort of doc.

This film had potential. In the beginning I thought that it was perhaps showing both sides... Telling a story, as a film should, and letting the viewer make up their own mind. Allow both sides to gain some insights and compassion for each other. Allow nuance. I think it occasionally veered towards that, but ultimately it was still geared towards either swaying you to one POV or affirming you if you already had that take on the issue. And it left no side with any greater understanding of the other.

In reality there are far more people than you'd think who don't have a black and white viewpoint, who don't fit themselves into a choice-or-life box. Or aren't coming from the same place you might expect. I really would've love to see more of that covered. After all, I come to a documentary to learn, and a good doc should really make the viewer think.

For example, I once read a fascinating essay written by a feminist, athiest woman - who was pro-life. I've also seen those who are extremely religious, and just as staunchly pro-choice. Humans usually don't fit into neat little boxes. I would have loved to hear the stories and reasoning of people like that in this film.

Ideally, I would've like to see this film look outside of the typical, politically-based talking points, and look beyond the usual spokespeople of the two camps. It would have made for a very compelling and interesting documentary if they had interviewed feminist/atheist/secular pro-lifers, if they interviewed the extremely religious pro-choicers, if they spoke to those who could not pick a side, to those who had an "or/but" viewpoint, believing that sometimes abortion wasn't right and sometimes it was, or that some situations would allow for it. Something that would challenge us all, no matter where we stood on the topic.

I also would've loved to hear from more scientists, especially biologists. Evolutionary biologists would have been a fantastic resource in my opinion. There are many who hold the view that science backs up life human life beginning at conception. There are others who have the opposite viewpoint. Imagine if we could get a couple well-educated biologists in a room debating this fact politely and using reason, logic, and facts.

So, in the end this film fell short. It didn't provide new perspectives or give viewers anything to think about. And there are so many perspectives to be had. In pro-life and pro-choice camps, and with all the others in-between or undecided. In the end I felt like this documentary served a political purpose, and wasn't really an honest film. I'm still waiting for that film, the one that will simply tell a STORY and show all sides, and show all the gray areas.

We're all human beings. Documentaries can remind us of that. A great doc really can change societies (Blackfish being a prime example). Unfortunately this was not one of them.

This is not a a political issue, it's not a religious issue. They keep saying we have freedom in the US. Not so! So idk why people are setting off fireworks and celebrating this country with its mass shootings and making woman turn back to to dark ages of killing themselves because they can not have a baby.

I sit through this documentary with a heavy heart, because it really makes me wanna scream while watching this.

It showcases how abortion becomes a political issue to mobilize voters' support to win an election, and how pressure groups and lobbyists utilize their influence to sway politicians to pass laws in their favor regardless of scientific facts and medical evidence. It showcases how the democratic system in the US is broken in a way, that it no longer upholds its most fundamental values of passing laws that protects individual liberties (when they pose no harm to other individuals), based on scientific research, facts and statistical evidence.

It shows how people are being emotionally mobilised by packaged ideologies and propaganda, to uphold a view that may not be entirely factually correct. To split people into a bipolar view of one-side vs the other, when there can be compromises and more detailed arguments to reach consensus. It promotes a culture that it's either us or them.

One critic for this documentary, is that it could have provided more scientific evidence and medical research regarding abortion and reproductive rights. Delve more into the social and philosophical aspects of the abortion issue.

For example, how does the right to abortion interact with the family structure, economic discrepancies, educational and job opportunities? More discussion can be made on why people want abortions, or what makes abortion an important right.

Also, there can be more discussion for what does it mean for a foetus to have a "life"? What does the three trimesters of pregnancy signifies? These questions are essential to understanding more about the debate on abortion rights.

Instead, this documentary focuses entirely on the politics of the abortion issue. Which I feel like is not enough information on the issue.

I am not from the US, I don't like in a country where abortion is much of a debate. It's crazy to see a country which boasts about personal freedoms is determined to remove reproduction freedoms from women. It made me angry that the anti-choicers just ignored why abortion became legal in the first place. It was a hard watch, but very interesting. I wanted to shout through the screen