The Basement Talks

Abortion rights has turned Boston into a powder keg. As a liberal city with a highly Catholic population, it is quickly taking center stage in the national debate. And then the unimaginable. A man walks into the Planned Parenthood clinic in Brookline and opens fire. Worried that their movement will be undermined, pro-life activists work to uncover the identity of the shooter and bring him to justice.

The man is captured and the trial descends into a media circus. The facts of the case are quickly abandoned in the public square as pro-choice and pro-life activists jockey for publicity and try to control the narrative. Away from the cameras and under a strict confidentiality agreement, six opposed leaders in the abortion debate meet in a windowless basement to address the hostile environment that fed the violence.

What were the shooter’s motives? His writings show a man lost in conspiracy theories. Was this even about abortion? His lawyers call the shooter to the stand, but the Judge won’t let him testify.

The prosecution seeks the highest penalty. The jury takes two days to come to an agreement. Finally, the verdict is announced. The six abortion activists are left to do what the criminal proceedings could not.

The Abortion Talks take a turn. Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion group, threatens violence to anyone who participates in the dialogue. The six activists debate going public, but there’s a hold out.

The activists make a splash, but it is quickly overshadowed by a new tragedy. The scandal in the Catholic church drives the six women’s remarkable accomplishment out of the news cycle. The dialogue ends in a whimper. They meet again in a post-Roe world. Can they make a difference today?