Live Free or Die (documentary)

"Live Free or Die" is a 2000 documentary film that follows Dr. Wayne Goldner, a New Hampshire OBGYN fighting on the latest front of the "abortion wars." The feature originally aired as part of PBS' P.O.V. series. It was directed and produced by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt of Incite Pictures.

Overview

Set against the backdrop of Goldner's own community, the film captures a year of daily struggles and moral conflict. In the documentary, Wayne challenges a Catholic hospital merger that greatly reduces the areas services. When a patient who is 14 weeks pregnant is barred from the hospital operating room Wayne is forced to send her on an 80 mile cab ride for an emergency termination. Wayne's greatest conflict, as depicted in the film, is reducing the tension caused by his presence in the community.

Political conflict in the Film

In his hometown, protester's target Goldner as an abortionist and succeed in getting him dismissed as a sex education teacher from a local school. The conflict moves to the center of community politics when Goldner applies to be reinstated by the local school board. After a wide ranging dispute, the board denies his request. The film concludes that doctor's like Wayne Goldner often stop providing abortions because of the "profound sense of isolation they endure." [ [http://incite-pictures.com/live_free.html Incite Pictures: Live Free or Die ] ] The film aim is to show that, more than violence, it is a lack of social support for providers that has left 86% of counties in the US without abortion service. [ [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3500603.html Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States in 2000 ] ]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.incite-pictures.com/live_free.html Incite Pictures] - Production company page
* [http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2000/livefreeordie/ "P.O.V." Live Free or Die] - PBS' website dedicated to the film