It is a great pleasure to be able to finally release ASAP’s new animated film, From Unwanted Pregnancies To Safe Abortion. This film introduces the character of Ms.A, an Asian woman seeking abortions. Her struggle against the social and legal barriers to safe abortion reflects those of several women in South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East. Her victories are those of a movement for social justice that has been sweeping across the continent.

If you think you might have seen these characters before you won’t be wrong. ASAP released a rough version on May 28 at Women Deliver 2013 in order to observe the First Anniversary Of The International Campaign For Women’s Right To Safe Abortion. You might in fact own a DVD!

Since then, it has grown thanks to the help of ASAP’s staff, steering committee, youth champions, members and affiliates who reviewed it and gave comments to improve the scope and the theme of the film. A very special thanks to Prof. Terry Hull, John C. Caldwell Professor of Population, Health and Development, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, whose invaluable comments helped improve the rough version.

I would also like to thank Dr. Amar Jesani, the Editor of the Indian Journal Of Medical Ethics and the co-founder of the Anusandhan Trust, with whose support this film premiered at the latest National Bioethics Seminar held in IIT Madras.

Ms. A would not have come alive had it not been for the work of talented artist Ms. Shachi Kale. Not only did she give Ms. A a distinct personality, she created a set of characters and a series of scenes that come together in this film to tell the story of a woman who is search for safe abortion.

Scripting this story and editing it has been a unique journey in itself. The story is constructed from sociological, ethnographic, demographic and public health research across Asia. In a way, the story has been simplified so it can be germane to all of Asia, and yet in a way, it tries to unify Asia under the banner of the quest for safe abortion. Between the lines are several untold stories; narratives that did not fit in a 9-minute film. We hope that in the future we would be able to bring Ms. A back to tell more stories about abortion in Asia.

But before that you should watch this space for versions on the same movie in local languages. We start with Farsi!