Deciding Vote

Deciding Vote began when our older friend, Doron Steger, told us an amazing story about New York’s 1970 Abortion Bill. The story was largely forgotten, and it involved a little-known Assemblyman named George Michaels from Auburn, a small city in Upstate New York. Michaels seemingly switched his vote on the bill at the last moment — becoming the “deciding vote” which allowed the bill to pass and legalized abortion in New York in the process. As a result of switching his vote, Michaels career seemed to have been destroyed and the story became largely lost to history. We were inspired by the courage and lasting influence of Michaels’ vote and felt that the story was as relevant now as it was then. Together with Doron as one of our producers, we decided to make it into a short documentary.

The more we learned about George Michaels and the intricate personal and political drama playing out in his life, the more fascinated we became. Here was a man whose own family drama acted as a microcosm to a larger national debate — a debate still happening today at dinner tables across our country. And when we finally got a chance to watch Michaels’ speech on the assembly floor, previously available only on grainy YouTube clips, we understood just how courageous he was.

At times, we hesitated. Being two men, were we the right directors for this story? We decided to proceed with the realization that the film could emphasize the message that reproductive rights are human rights, and we all have a role in that fight. In fact, as men, we found Michaels’ courage even more profound. Here’s a man who understood the value in supporting a group that on the
surface he wasn’t part of. He recognized that he too had a responsibility to support causes that were beyond his own identity. We realized just how important that message is in order to spearhead change in society.

Of course, we also found Michaels’ example of moral courage so refreshingly brave at a time today when both sides of the aisle seem to never want to rock the boat. We hope that the film will be an inspiration to people on all sides of the political spectrum in realizing the importance of taking a stand for what you believe in, regardless of party or affiliation.

We are honored to have been able to tell this story in a film. We were so excited to have the eager participation of the Michaels family, candidly sharing their emotional experience with us. We were able to interview Michaels’ two living sons, Jim and Lee, as well as his daughter-in-law Sarah. They all shared with us the real personal stakes at play within their family. In Sarah, we found a woman who didn’t even realize the colossal role she had in all of this. It was astonishing when she realized during our interview how she played a small role in our nation’s history! We were thrilled to speak with Ruth Messinger, a great veteran of New York’s political landscape, who herself had been inspired for decades by this story. We couldn’t believe that she even taught leadership workshops where she lectured about George Michaels. And lastly, we were so
delighted to meet Rebecca Fitzgerald, an archivist at the Cayuga Museum of History and Art, who is compiling the George Michaels archive. We knew she had to be a character in the film.

We are also pleased that the film showcases Constance Cook, a Republican who co-authored the bill. It was really striking for us to see the civility demonstrated during those NY State Assembly sessions. We hope to see similarly passionate, thoughtful, non-partisan debates in our current
political discourse.

We are honored to present this powerful story at similarly significant moment in our nation’s history. We hope Deciding Vote confirms how one courageous individual can have an impact for all of society. We hope the film inspires those who see it as much as it inspired us in making it.