Deciding Vote

In just 20 minutes, this short film gives us compelling insights into the pressure on politicians; into women's rights at the height of the Second Wave of Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s; and the fraught issue of abortion, still a subject of fierce debate in 2023. This is not a drama, it's a true-life story about a noble politician who faces vilification in casting a decisive vote that will make American history. Whether he votes yes or no he will be condemned by a great many people across the country. Finally, we see the importance here of state politics, that a decision made by legislators in Albany - or in Austin, Sacramento or Lansing - will have a national impact. Those debates tend to be more intense, personal and raw than the polite sparring in Washington, and make for great drama as in this movie.