In 2018, Ireland voted to repeal the 8th amendment, the 1983 law that granted fetuses the same right to life as their mothers, in a historic referendum. The story behind this huge advancement in Irish women’s rights is told in Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy, and Maeve O’Boyle’s “The 8th.” A trailer for the doc dropped today, International Women’s Day.

“This was the most historically divisive issue in Ireland ever,” we’re told in the spot. Some citizens are ready for women to take back control of their bodily autonomy and family planning options, while others see the referendum as a way to “take god out of society.”

“Imagine if you could get this army of women putting that pressure on and to feel empowered,” one woman muses. And that seems to be exactly what went down: as the trailer depicts, women rose above the anti-choice rhetoric and came together to turn the tide of the fight. “Something magical happened, where [the referendum] became a symbol of women’s equality in Ireland,” a character explains.

“We grew up in Ireland under the shadow of the 8th Amendment. We witnessed its impact on women’s lives, most notably ‘the X case’ — a 14-year-old rape victim who was refused permission to leave the country for an abortion — and the death of Savita Halappanavar [who died after she was denied her request for an abortion following an incomplete miscarriage],” the directors of “The 8th” told Women and Hollywood. “When the government called a referendum to repeal the 8th amendment, we knew this was one of the most important stories of our generation. Our goal was to document this defining moment in the context of Ireland’s historic treatment of women.”

In honor of the third anniversary of the referendum, “The 8th” will be released in U.K. cinemas and VOD May 25. A release in Ireland will follow later this year. The doc will begin screening at the Athena Film Festival March 15 and is set to open the U.K. digital edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival on March 18.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cbBZd6TBwB4