| Vera is completely devoted to, and loved by, her working class London family. She spends her days caring for her sick mum, invalid neighbor, her day job as a house cleaner, as well as running her home and trying to fix up daughter Edith with a nice young man (Rich). But when her friend Lily gives her a slip of paper with an address, she goes 'round to help out young girls with their family problem and helps induce miscarriages to abort pregnancies. Problem being, this is 1950 England, and abortion had been for nearly a century. Vera sees herself as simply helping women in need, and always does so with a smile and kind words of encouragement. She doesn't even get paid (Lily charges the girls but doesn't tell Vera). The cops find out when one of the girls, Pamela, gets sick enough to have to go to hospital and require surgery. The cops investigate, Vera is honest and up front about her work, is arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced to 30 months in prison. We close out with seeing Vera meets two other women (both second offenders) in for 3 and 4 years respectively for doing abortions, and cut over to her family (Edith and Rich now engaged) having dinner without her. |
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