On the surface, Israel’s policy on abortion appears very liberal and egalitarian: any woman may apply to the abortion termination board, and, if approved, the cost of the abortion is subsidized. Incisive and meticulously researched, Efrat Shalom Danon’s documentary, Abortion in the Holy Land, is a thought-provoking critique of these laws, and an exploration of the underlying issues, ideologies, and history that led to the formation of current laws and policies. The film employs strikingly revelatory archival material, interviews with researchers and experts in the fields of history, law, and sociology, and perhaps most significant, interviews with eight women, ranging in age from 30 to 92, religious and secular, who talk about their abortions.
Abortion was illegal in Israel until 1977, and the film examines the history of abortion from 1936 (during the British Mandate) onward. The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, following the tragedy of the Holocaust, inevitably led to the encouragement of births and large families. Yet a woman who became pregnant typically risked losing her job and independence and if she decided to terminate the pregnancy had no alternative but to accept the risks and cost of an illegal abortion. The testimony of a woman who underwent such an abortion, without anesthetic, is harrowing.
Letters and testimony further reveal the ideologies and motivations of key figures in encouraging births among some segments of the population, while seeking to limit births in others deemed less “cultured”. An explicit connection is made between government policy to encourage births and large families, and the need for a strong military. To the expressed concern for the life of the embryo during a charged debate in the Knesset, Shulamit Aloni responded: “Shame! And you want them to die at age 18!”
Yet the core issue in question is a woman’s autonomy, her right to make decisions about her own body, her own life. Although abortion is currently legal in Israel, a woman still cannot decide to have an abortion, she must request permission to have an abortion from a committee operating under strict guidelines. The impact that abortion laws and policies have on women’s lives is made profoundly explicit in Efrat Shalom Danon’s powerful film. A recurring motif in the women’s experiences is the difficulty of talking about their abortion, in almost every woman’s testimony there recurs a variant of the phrase “I never told anyone,” “few people know,” “I never talked about it,” “it’s hard for me to talk about it.” For many women, the fact of having to face a committee of three to talk about such an intimate and often painful decision, to appeal to them for permission, is daunting to the point of being unbearable. In addition, the wait for an appointment can often be very long.
Once she is before the committee, a woman may be subjected to extremely intrusive and accusatory questioning. The film includes several scenes of the committee’s procedure, watching the women (whose identities are protected) as they make their case before a committee, their vulnerability and lack of power or agency is painful and enraging to view. The current policy also leads to yet another economic divide among women who are denied approval by the committee, between those who can afford a private (illegal) abortion, and those who cannot. Although certain reforms have been put in place, women still have to apply to the committee and have to meet certain criteria for approval. As the film presents documentation and archival footage covering the history of abortion in Israel, a common theme emerges among those entities – whether individuals, committees, organizations, or governments – that seek to protect the life of embryos: a distinct lack of concern for the human life that is already in existence, the lives of women.
In their appearance in the film, speaking thoughtfully and candidly about their experiences, the eight women in the film claim their agency and their power. Their ages, backgrounds, and circumstances are all different, yet they have all had to contend with a system that seeks to control women. In talking about the shame and stigma associated with abortion, they conquer it. Their individual stories reflect not only the difficulties they have encountered, but also the importance of a woman’s ability to decide on an abortion, the impact it has on a woman’s ability to pursue her dreams – whether her studies, her career, or to be a good parent to the children she already has – to live her life.
Abortion in the Holy Land premiered at the Haifa International Film Festival where it was awarded Best Research for Documentary Film.
Abortion in the Holy Land
Israel/2024/70 min/Hebrew with Hebrew and English subtitles
Director: Efrat Shalom Danon; Production: Osnat Trabelsi; Script: Efrat Shalom Danon, Miri Laufer; Cinematography: Tanya Aizikovich; Editing: Miri Laufer; Music: Ellyott; Source: Trabelsi Productions LTD; Produced with support by Kan 11 – The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, Makor Foundation, Gesher Multicultural Film Fund
