Abortions remain a geopolitical battleground

A conversation with Marianna Fumai by Oksanka, founder of the initiative “Pro Abort”

For me, audiovisual media is a tool for social change. Cinema reflects the world we live in, and documentary films expose distortions and injustices. Cinema and artistic  expression play a crucial role in reshaping the cultural imagination and enabling societal  transformations.

Sisterhood in the film “Sisters” appears as a key to resistance; it is mutual support and collective power. What does this title mean to you? 

It is all these things for me. Sisterhood is not a romantic issue. It can be betrayed: relationships are not easy, and people are complex, but sisterhood is super powerful.  Sisters, not only cis women, are united by shared experiences of patriarchal violence and by the desire to overcome it. Recognizing oneself in another’s experience reveals the superpower of sisterhood. I am part of a trans*feminist collective. Although misunderstandings and betrayals happen, the collective is still my community. Whenever I have the chance, I feel a thin thread connecting us through a shared understanding of reality. That is true, resistance is essential and profoundly beautiful.

In the film, personal stories of trauma and resistance from invisible individuals are interwoven with the stories of activists. What was your intention behind combining these narratives? 

I wanted to show access to abortion through the lens of solidarity, but also the personal experiences of those enduring medical violence. This is crucial to fully understand the violation of dignity and the right to health. The personal stories speak of abuse and infantilization, consistent with Italy’s Law 194 of 1978, which allows abortion only when there is a risk to physical or psychological health. This law, born of patriarchal culture, creates conditions making access ineffective despite claiming to guarantee it. Understanding conscientious objection is essential to grasping the concrete effects of outdated laws.

True, for a long time, the state, the church, and institutions have tried to control people’s bodies. But in your film, we see that genuine solidarity can resist these powerful systems. What inspired you personally while creating Sisters? 

In October 2016, a pregnant woman in her fifth month of pregnancy died in  Italy. Her doctor refused to intervene to perform the abortion that might have saved her life,  declaring himself a conscientious objector. She died of sepsis after days of excruciating suffering.  That news shocked me. I had given birth only ten months earlier and still remembered the trust one places in doctors. Around that time, I began my feminist journey. Through activists, I learned about self-managed abortion and support networks: drones carrying misoprostol and ships with medical staff, allowing women and pregnant people in restrictive countries to have abortions. Discovering this solidarity and creativity was incredibly moving. I wanted to make a documentary that would not portray women and pregnant people as victims but instead tell the story of the networks of solidarity they themselves built.

And how has the landscape of activism and attitudes toward abortion changed globally since you made Sisters? 

Since 2023, there have been steps forward: France enshrined the right to abortion in its Constitution, and Scotland created Safe Access Zones. But in Italy, where over 70%  of doctors claim conscientious objection, anti-abortion activists now have public funding in counseling centers. In Poland, a bill to decriminalize assistance with abortion was rejected in 2024.  Even where laws are not restrictive, barriers remain: cost, distance, lack of doctors, conscientious objection, and constant attacks. Legal frameworks do not automatically ensure safe access. Abortion remains a geopolitical battleground, shaped by political, religious, and economic forces.

Your film will now be seen by a Ukrainian audience—people living in a country affected by war, violence, a demographic crisis, state and institutional reproductive pressure, and limited access to healthcare. Why is it important for you to show Sisters here and now? What parallels do you see between the stories of the film’s protagonists and today’s Ukrainian realities?

During war, fundamental human rights are at greater risk of being violated, and among these, reproductive rights are the most vulnerable. Healthcare facilities, professionals, and medicines can become much less accessible. Women and people with uteruses face extremely high risks to their sexual and reproductive health, also due to the possibility of rape, which constitutes yet another weapon of war. Sisters tells the story of the difficult situation surrounding access to abortion in Poland, a country where many Ukrainians sought refuge after the Russian invasion.  Only a year earlier, Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party had made it even more difficult to access a legal abortion by banning the procedure in cases of fetal malformation. Abortion in cases of rape is still permitted under Polish law, but only with the confirmation of a prosecutor. Reporting rape is never easy, and during war, sexual violence is particularly difficult to prove, effectively making access to abortion impossible. Many have no choice but to carry the pregnancy to term or undergo unsafe abortions if they cannot travel to another European country. Fortunately, civil society,  especially the feminist movement, mobilized to provide all possible support to those in need of abortion care and emergency contraception.

Really, in many countries, feminist collectives, but not the state, guarantee access to safe abortion. Do you agree that the future of reproductive freedom belongs to such horizontal, non-hierarchical forms of solidarity? 

Honestly, I hope one day support groups for abortion will be unnecessary.  Abortion is a medical procedure burdened with religious and political meanings used to control reproductive capacity. Abortion should not be regulated by laws dictating when it can occur. The experience of Brazilian women and support networks shows that abortions up to 10 weeks can be safely self-managed. This helps reduce stigma and expand self-determination. What matters is that everyone can choose the best way for themselves, whether in a hospital, at home, or collectively.  Freedom to choose is what allows people to exercise control over their bodies and lives. 

Unfortunately, in Ukraine, open discussions about abortion have only recently begun,  and since the start of the full-scale invasion, Women Help Women has provided free access to self-managed medical abortion. As an activist, how do you see this?

Based on interviews and stories of people who underwent medical abortion, self-managed abortion with a supportive network, via telemedicine for medical aspects and friends for practical or emotional support, is revolutionary. It gives agency over bodies and the ability to  shape one’s own experience. With this procedure, we no longer need to ask someone to intervene;  we can act autonomously to ensure that what we want for our bodies, our lives, and our relationships can be realized. It allows us to reclaim a space patriarchy has taken from us—a space entirely our own.

Today, we are witnessing a backlash against human rights in many countries. Do you think these tendencies will intensify? Should activists prepare for new challenges and work to  strengthen and unite the movement to continue offering strong resistance? 

Yes, I believe that the rise of right-wing movements in recent years poses a challenge not only to reproductive rights but to all human rights, which we see being constantly violated. 

The same Europe that defines itself as the cradle of Western and liberal civilization is, in fact, complicit, indirectly contributing to the deaths of thousands of people from the global minority through its immigration laws, and by lavishly paying dictators and criminal groups with public funds to externalize its borders. There are truly many fronts on which mobilization is urgently needed. 

Beyond legal restrictions, abortion is always surrounded by social stigma. Do you think it’s possible to normalize this topic? To see abortion not as a crime but as a life experience and basic medical procedure? 

Every person experiences abortion differently, but the narrative often frames it as dramatic. Anti-abortion activists co-opted the slogans of women fighting for legal abortion in the 1960s and 70s, which were dramatic because abortions were unsafe. Today, the conversation is flattened around guilt and misinformation. Each of us, through everyday conversations, can help align the discussion with real experiences. Not everyone feels guilt; not everyone experiences abortion negatively. It is crucial to clarify that having an abortion does not kill a child. Openly discussing abortion, self-managed and safe procedures, and reflecting the multiplicity of experiences is fundamental in dismantling stigma, and this is something we can actively work to do.