Themes: Social Injustice, Doctors and Patients, Fighting the System
Main Cast: Sissy Spacek, Aidan Quinn, Estelle Parsons, Sheila McCarthy, Leon Russom
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
When Sherri Finkbine (Sissy Spacek), the host of the Sixties children's television program Romper Room, learns that her unborn child has been damaged by her use of the drug thalidomide, she and her husband decide to abort the fetus, setting in motion the media controversy that is the subject of Joan Micklin Silver's made-for-cable drama. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Xander Berkeley - Peter Zenner; Gregg Almquist - Doctor #2; Mark Anderson - Reporter #3; Michael Bofshever - TV Host; Michael Byrne - Reporter #2; Lance Edwards - Ray Becker; Taylor Fry - Sandra Harper; Stanley Grover - Judge; Carla Gugino - Mary Beth; Baxter Harris - Doctor #1; Scott Hoxby - FBI Man #1; Atanas Ilitch - Security Guard; Ben Lemon - FBI Man #2; William H. Macy; Jeff Perry - Randall Everett; Noley Thornton - Carol Callaghan; William Utay - Jimmy Gillespie; Richard Venture - Dr. Werner; Ken Jenkins - Frank Kearns; Dawn Arnemann - Parking Lot Mom; Steven Gilborn - Harvey; Allison Mack - Terri Finkbine; Kristin Moneagle - TV Studio Mother; Tony Salome - Mailman; Reilly Murphy - Boy in Parking Lot
Credit
Isis Mussenden - Costume Designer, Joan Micklin Silver - Director, Rick Shaine - Editor, James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Victoria Paul - Production Designer, Paul Elliott - Cinematographer, William Nicholson - Screenwriter
A Private Matter is a 1992 film made for television (HBO) drama based on the true 1963 story of Sherri Finkbine, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona in the first trimester of her fifth pregnancy. She was the popular hostess of the locally produced children's television show Romper Room.
She was taking the drug thalidomide and discovered its potential to damage a fetus. Concerned that her fetus might be damaged she consulted with her physician who scheduled a legal, therapeutic abortion at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix.
The hospital refused the use of their facilities for an abortion so Finkbine filed a lawsuit to compel the use of Good Samaritan Hospital. A public and bitter struggle ensued, culminating with Finkbine terminating her pregnancy in Sweden.
