Activists perform illegal abortions in 1972 Chicago. A charged, realistic drama about three women struggling to bring their whole lives into alignment with their feminist politics.
Keywords: Feminism – realistic drama – reproductive justice
Chicago 1972. A group of feminist activists risk imprisonment to offer illegal abortions to impoverished people. In the act of empowering women, they discover new things about their own power as women. This scenario is a charged, realistic drama about three women struggling to bring their whole lives into alignment with their feminist politics.
Players will argue about feminist politics, counsel people seeking abortion, and conduct abortions using a metatechnique. Characters will have personal conflict and political solidarity in equal measure. Characters will come to the uncomfortable realization that people who they care about sometimes oppress them, and learn that even a feminist organization can be racist.
Long Description
Summary Three feminists meet through shared work in an illegal abortion service and a political discussion group. The early part of the scenario introduces each woman’s politics before challenging them with an experience of oppression. Tensions loom in the group as they disagree about the role racism plays in their caregiving. The tragic death of a healthy black person under the service’s care sends the group into crisis. Determined to push forward, each character resolves the inconsistency between her personal life and her feminist politics. The scenario ends when all the characters are arrested in a police raid, but show each other affirming support and compassion in jail.
Character Arcs The story of The Abortionists is tightly bound to the development of it’s three player characters. Every character in The Abortionists has a dramatic arc fueled by an inconsistency between her personal life and her feminist politics. Each character enters play carrying a mistaken belief about herself which will be challenged and eventually transformed through play