June 22 kicks off the start of "Before There Was Choice," a five-month film series on women's reproductive rights.

Janet Gotkin and Dana Middleton, both members of Santa Fe's National Organization for Women chapter, are the brains behind the series, designed "to open up a discussion about abortion and reproductive rights," Gotkin tells SFR.

"I hate to say it, but abortion is legal—it's a right—and we're about to lose it," Middleton adds. The first film in the series, Vera Drake, was made in 2004. Its star, Imelda Staunton, received an Oscar nomination for her performance as a doctor who secretly helps women end their pregnancies in 1950s Britain, where abortion was illegal.

"That's why we chose these movies [in which] abortion was illegal: to find a place through art to have a rational, reasoned discussion" about abortion as a legal right, Gotkin says.

Each film will be followed by a discussion; on June 22, it will be led by Dr. Elizabeth Buchen, the women's health policy director at the Southwest Women's Law Center.

"Before There Was Choice" Film Series
Santa Fe Community College Board Room (2nd floor of main building)
Tuesday, June 22
7:00 pm