Underground Women’s State

The movie has no English subtitles.

“Underground Women’s State” is an image of Polish reality, where anti-abortion law exists only on paper. Eight women who had illegal abortion decided to talk about their experiences, for the first time.

In Poland since 1993 anti-abortion law, forbidding pregnancy termination on social grounds, has been in force. Meanwhile the number of illegal abortions performed in the country is estimated at even 200 thousand yearly. An access to safe medical procedures is mainly the matter of money.

Despite such frequent illegal abortions, there is no movement aiming at changing the law in Poland. The authors of the film try to answer the question why it is the case, calling to memory the reality of the beginning of the nineties. They show helplessness of the social movement in the face of political bargains. Searching for answers, they turn to leading activists of the pro-choice movement, from different generations.

“Underground women’s state” wishes to become an audible voice for the right of women to decide about their lives. We are counting on opening a public debate, leading to emergence of a civic movement for changing the law.