The 1952 segment deals with Claire Donnelly (Demi Moore), a widowed nurse living in suburban Chicago, who becomes pregnant by Kevin (Jason London), her brother-in-law; she decides to undergo an abortion, in order not to hurt her late husband's family.

After a failed attempt to self-terminate the pregnancy with a knitting needle, Claire contacts a man who comes to her home and performs a clandestine, hasty procedure as she lies atop her kitchen table.

This segment deals with Barbara Barrows (Sissy Spacek), a struggling, aging mother-of-four, and her night-shift-working, policeman husband, who discovers she is pregnant, while having recently gone back to college.

The 1996 segment deals with Christine Cullen (Anne Heche), a college student impregnated by a married professor, who decides on an abortion when he breaks-up with her and only offers her money.

[3] HBO vice president Colin Callender said: "I don't believe there's a studio in the world that would finance this picture",[3] and praised Moore and Cher for having the courage to use their celebrity to address the issue of abortion.