“Women have always struggled to control their ability to conceive or not conceive. Abortion has played an important and controversial role in all cultures and societies.
BACKROOM TROUBLES frames the stories of several New Zealand women who had abortions when it was illegal, between 1930 and 1979. They talk of their lack of knowledge about sex and contraception, the powerful social attitudes that condemned sex outside marriage and stigmatised unmarried mothers. They tell of how they arranged the abortion, how it was done, and the subterfuge and fear that accompanied the entire process.
BACKROOM TROUBLES exposes a history which has largely been closeted. It is the history of our sisters, mothers and grandmothers and their struggle with fertility.” Andrea Bosshard & Shane Loader
“From the producers of Someone Else's Country comes this utterly fascinating and often very disturbing look at the options available, prior to the legalisation of abortion, to New Zealand women with unwanted pregnancies. This is "the way we were" which television doesn't show us, as women talk frankly about the circumstances that drove them to seek illegal abortions and the often traumatic results.
While BACKROOM TROUBLES is framed within an unapologetic pro-choice perspective, it makes its point by implication and example. It lets the women tell their stories in their own words. First, with the aid of old newsreel footage, it reminds us of the social climate: where sex "may take place in sleep"; where sex education, if it existed at all, certainly didn't give the whole story; where contraception was hard to come by; and a post-war "welfare state" encouraged small families.
Against this background, self-attempted and "backstreet" abortions are recalled. These range from measures thought to cause miscarriages (everything from the well-known "falling down the stairs" method to eating plates of beetroot) to the furtive and dangerous circumstances in which abortions took place, The content of BACKROOM TROUBLES may offend, and well it should. Whatever your views on abortion, these are stories that need to be heard.” - Mark Amery