Coat Hangars & Knitting Needles - James Friedel

 "I'm Madder Than Hell"

James Friedl’s Story is the fourth story in Motherless, a film showing the negative consequences of "coercive reproductive health policies." Anyone watching the film should be reminded why we can't return to the pre-Roe v. Wade days despite many legislators, usually men, trying. 

A photo taken of James Friedl about the time his mother, Ruth Irene, died of an abortion, shows a skinny little boy wearing a sailor hat and almost dwarfed by a toy sail boat.

He was told his mother died from food poisoning. The shock of losing her made him “unlovable,” he said.

He hid. He hid in closets, hiding from the pain. When he wasn’t hiding he followed his father everywhere, never even letting the man go to the bathroom alone.

Only as an adult, as a Marine waiting to be shipped out from San Diego, did James learn the truth from his Aunt Alice. She happened to be in the city at the same time and she told him what really occurred.

After James’s sister had been born, his mother was told she shouldn’t have any more children. This was in Denver in 1929, but she found herself pregnant. She kept the secret from her husband and instead turned to Alice, a pharmacist married to a doctor. It is not clear whether Alice and Ruth were sisters or sisters-in-law but there’s a photo of the two women arm-in-arm.

Alice told Ruth that an abortion by her husband was out of the question. He could lose his license. Their whole community in Idaho would be hurt if they lost their only doctor.

James isn’t sure whether Alice provided the ergot that killed his mother on 21 August 1929. Ergot is a fungus that can be used for migraines and for bringing on uterine contractions. Ruth overdosed.

Decades later James said, “Mad? Damned right I am mad, and I am madder than hell. Why do we have to go through this? Look what I lost…Totally unnecessary. Same as if they shot her on the street.” 

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About the Film*: Motherless was produced and directed by three women:

• Barbara Attie, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker
• Janet Goldwater, a Philadelphia-based producer and director focused on amplifying women's voices and
• Diane Pontius who also produced I still Love You about her father's dementia.

The film won four awards

•       Cine Golden Eagle, 1993
•       Silver Apple, National Educational Film and Video Festival, 1993
•       Honors, International Health and Medical Film Festival, 1994            
•        Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights, Sarah W. Boote Founders Award, 1994

*From Coat Hangers and Knitting Needles