‘Roe vs. Wade’ Filming as Sensitive as Abortion Issue

Last month, an unheralded TV movie called “Common Knowledge” was shooting in and around Los Angeles. In fact, the producers were using a phony title to avoid drawing attention and possible protests while filming a re-enactment of Roe vs. Wade, the controversial 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s right to have an abortion.

During the final weekend of production, Operation Rescue members were protesting outside abortion clinics in Los Angeles. But “Roe vs. Wade” remained unbothered.

“No one discovered us while we were filming,” said a relieved Holly Hunter, who plays the Jane Roe character. “I’m sure we would have been a nice, easy target, and that would have prevented us from working. We wanted to make a movie and not have cops and picket lines and people trying to attack the actors.”

“Roe vs. Wade” will air May 15 on NBC at the height of the anti-abortion/pro-choice debate now gripping the country. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Missouri abortion case that could result in the overturning of the decision that legalized abortion under federal law.

To limit controversy and minimize any negative effect on advertising sales, NBC has been cautious in releasing information about the project.

The set was closed to journalists, and even now the network is trying to limit press access to the participants. Executive producer Michael Manheim, who has spent the past four years putting the project together, has deferred to NBC’s policy for silence until the film can be seen.

“Because there are some fringe elements out there, we thought one person, one voice would be the way to go on this,” said Tony Masucci, NBC’s senior vice president of miniseries and motion pictures for television. “Abortion clinics are being bombed. A few weeks ago Norma McCorvey’s house was shotgunned.”

McCorvey, who lives in Texas and cleans houses for a living, is the woman who, using the pseudonym Jane Roe, sought a legal way to terminate her pregnancy in 1970. The attorney who represented her, Sarah Weddington, was recently out of law school, and Roe vs. Wade became her first court case. She argued it all the way to the Supreme Court. Weddington is portrayed by Amy Madigan in the movie.

“I’ve got to hand it to NBC,” said Hunter, an Oscar nominee two years ago for “Broadcast News.” “They made a movie about a decision that changed abortion in this country. I sure hope they don’t tiptoe around too much. I’m sure the network feels fear, but the network also produced the movie and they’re going to air it. I haven’t signed anything with NBC that tells me I’ve got to keep my mouth shut about how I feel.”

Masucci insisted that the two-hour television film “is a very balanced presentation. We can’t change the outcome, but in terms of getting there it presents both sides of the argument fairly. However, because we’re dramatizing two women’s lives and because of what the Supreme Court ruled, some people will feel this is a pro-choice movie no matter what we say.”

He said the abortion controversy may affect the show’s advertising.

“We do anticipate there may be some sponsors reluctant to advertise,” he said. “Our sales department has indicated there’s some difficulty, but no one seems overly concerned--at least not at this juncture.”

In Hunter’s view, “Whether or not NBC is pushing it out there as a pro-choice movie or not, the fact is that it’s a movie about the case that made abortion legal in our country. It can’t be denied that the outcome of this case is pro-choice. The outcome of the movie is that women should have the right for the state not to interfere in a decision as intimate as that of whether or not to have a child.”

Asked about the upcoming film, Barbara Magera, media spokeswoman for Operation Rescue, said: “The fact that a film on Roe vs. Wade has been produced indicates that the entertainment industry is keenly aware that abortion is an unsettled issue facing our nation. Operation Rescue hopes that this film accurately portrays the facts concerning Roe vs. Wade.

“Finally, we hope this film portrays the victims of that tragic Supreme Court decision--25 million dead children and countless exploited, brutalized American women. If it fails to do so, we can only conclude that it is simply another piece of Hollywood fiction.”

“I don’t think the movie will change anyone’s position on the abortion question,” NBC’s Masucci said. “And we’re not out there to change anyone’s minds. People have asked me, ‘Why now?’ Because the script was ready now. If it had been ready a year and a half ago, we would have made it then.”

While NBC is taking the middle ground, the “Roe vs. Wade” stars leave no doubt about where they stand.

Madigan went to Washington for the pro-choice march earlier this month.

“I am totally pro-choice, 2,000%,” she said. “I did this project because of the politics and the subject matter. It’s necessary for people to become informed, and TV can reach an enormous amount of people. A lot of them don’t know what Roe vs. Wade is.”

Hunter said she has been “pro-choice for several years.”

“It’s a real individual choice--giving birth or not giving birth to a baby,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s the right of the state to make that decision for you.”

She considers it “a pretty big statement” to be involved in the movie.

“I don’t mind being a spokeswoman,” Hunter said. “I feel so personally that it’s a very silly thing that we’re now having to go back and have this war to save our right to abortion. But I’m certainly all for the fight to keep my right to choose. I hope people tune in so at least they can become acquainted with the story of what happened with these two women and how this case got started.”