Women’s Reproductive Rights Challenged Within Preconceived

My mother held me as we watched a breaking new sreport informing America that the landmark ruling for women’s reproductive rights, Roe vs Wade, had just been overturned by the Supreme Court.  Tears streamed down my face in response to the fact this generation will be living a Handmaid Tale existence with no decision over their own bodies without government interference or incarceration at breaking the law.  As a matter of fact, as of this writing, Kate Cox, whose fetus had a fatal condition, did not qualify for an abortion in Texas. Not after four emergency room visits, elevated vital signs, risks of a uterine rupture and her ability to have more children in jeopardy. The Texas Supreme Court’s rejection of a request for an exception under the state’s restrictive ban has begged the question in many other states if pregnancy complications that pose life-threatening danger to the mother are extenuating circumstances that should be considered and approved.

With this recent overturning of Roe v Wade and the Cox case in Texas, where does one turn when facing an unplanned pregnancy? Who can you trust and what happens when things go sideways?

Preconceived is a raw and educational look into the rise of  crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) invading our country by following the stories of two women – Maleeha in Texas and Maria in Colorado, whose searches to terminate their unplanned pregnancies misled them to anti-abortion centers. Amid a shifting legal landscape, directors Sabrine Keane and Kate Dumke cleverly navigate the complicated political and moral knot that is abortion access and underscore the importance of understanding resources available to pregnant women.

It is appalling to witness one of the two women featured in this doc return to the CPC who informed her that with an abortion she could later be diagnosed with breast cancer, become sterile or worse – none of which is true by medical standards.  In many instances, some CPC’s have been known to mislead patients about the number of weeks women are along in their pregnancy in order to trick them into not going through with an abortion procedure.  Most of these employees at CPC’s aren’t necessary medically licensed to even perform an ultrasound and are bible thumpers in sheep’s clothing. Even more disturbing is info obtained from patients on intake forms forwarded to databases run by Heartbeat International and other data gathering organizations, which when forwarded to law enforcement can have those individuals arrested for attempting to break the law in their state.  Whether you are pro-life or pro-abortion, no woman should be lied to or coerced into doing ANYTHING she doesn’t consent to…period.

Now, with  women’s reproductive right of IVF looming around the country, this documentary is more relatable than ever.  Preconceived will piss some folks off in the best way possible. It will force you to think outside the box, while being educated and informed on every conceivable angle of these issues.  Hopefully, folks screening this film will be inspired to speak out for the injustices against women in this century.  After millions of women have marched, died and been jailed for this generation to have rights over their own body, now, more than ever is the time to stand up to what’s right or be transported back 50 years to when women had no rights at all.