Adirondack Voters for Change Abortion Access Committee is hosting a second showing of the award-winning film, “Happening” at BluSeed Studios in Saranac Lake at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. The film follows a determined, desperate, pregnant teenager along a dangerous path to abort her fetus in order to have the life she yearns.

In August we screened the movie, had a packed house, and a post-film panel which will be offered again. Since the first screening, Annie Ernaux, the author of the book Happening upon which the movie is based, won the 2022 Nobel Prize for literature for the body of her work.

The film is based on a true story. The setting is France in the 1960’s. Abortions and contraception are outlawed, and a pregnant woman cannot turn to anyone for help without putting each party at great risk of arrest and imprisonment.

Fast forward 60 years to the United States and we can easily replace this pregnant French teen with a teen (or adult) residing in the many states which now ban abortion. The isolation, rejection and pain experienced by the protagonist is gut wrenching (mature audience only). By viewing the film, one bears witness to the consequences of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe.

This is a moment in time when we can see the past in our present. We all face the risk of losing our reproductive rights no matter where we live. In the meantime, we have the opportunity to reach out to those currently suffering from restrictive abortion laws.

Mary Abendroth

Bloomingdale