If These Walls Could Talk (1996)

Three short films with abortion as their central theme: 1952 - abortion is still illegal in the U.S. and a recently widowed nurse (Demi Moore) finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and no one to turn to. 1974 - a woman (Sissy Spacek) with four kids has returned to school to get a college degree when she finds out she's pregnant again. 1996 - a doctor (Cher) in an abortion clinic must deal with pro-life protesters outside the clinic and a college student (Anne Heche) must make a decision on terminating her pregnancy. The first two stories are directed by Nancy Savoca and the third is directed by Cher. It's been almost 25 years since this film debuted on HBO and sadly, it's still relevant and perhaps it always will be as women's productive rights continue to come under attack. The first story is graphic and harrowing as it doesn't spare us the horror of "back alley" abortions and the third exposes the hypocrisy of the pro-life movement which condemns abortion as "murder" yet have no problem with killing living people. Since each segment is about 30 minutes in length, the actresses don't have much time to develop their characters yet they still manage to infuse them with tangible human emotions and conflict. The large cast includes Shirley Knight, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eileen Brennan, Catherine Keener, Lindsay Crouse, Rita Wilson, Diana Scarwid, CCH Pounder, Joanna Gleason, Craig T. Nelson, Harris Yulin, Matthew Lillard and Xander Berkeley.