“Who controls women’s bodies?” asks lawyer Daniel Bédard (Éric Robidoux). This is the question at the heart of Disobey. Chantale Daigle’s choicea series of six episodes produced by Sophie Lorain and Alexis Durand-Brault (ALSO productions) retracing the trial between Jean-Guy Tremblay (Antoine Pilon), 25, and Chantale Daigle (Éléonore Loiselle), 21, in August 1989.
With five seasons of Breakups to their credit, screenwriters Daniel Thibault and Isabelle Pelletier were certainly the best equipped to write this story that made headlines, and divided Quebec between those who are for abortion and those who are against it, which Alexis brings to the screen Durand-Brault (Megantic).
“The idea for the series came from Gaëlle d’Ynglemare, recalls the author. She had done all the research and was in contact with the activists and caregivers who had accompanied Chantale. The producers have worked hard to ensure that the series is done with the necessary means. When Alexis and Sophie approached us, we knew who it was… but I didn’t know the eighth in the story. I cried, I had shivers when I discovered it. And that is always a good sign. »
“When something challenges us, we look at each other, and there, we looked at each other while learning the details of the story, confirms the author. Few series have been made on women in Quebec, while there are a lot of women who have changed history. If we are not interested in them, if we do not pass on their history, they will be forgotten. »
After dating from 1988 to 1989, Daigle and Tremblay separated after the announcement of the young woman’s pregnancy. Although she dreams of having four children, Chantale Daigle does not want to give birth to the child of this manipulative and violent man. She thus considered abortion, decriminalized in Quebec since January 28, 1988. Tremblay then asked for an injunction to prevent her from having an abortion. After losing in the first two instances, Daigle had an abortion in Boston. The Supreme Court then rules in his favour. Unanimously.
“I did not know this story at all, reveals Éléonore Loiselle, who is the age of Chantale Daigle at the time. It was during the audition that I learned the details because at school, we didn’t talk about her, which is really surprising and shocking. It’s as if this woman had been erased from history. Yes, she erased herself, but all her history seems to have been erased too, whereas it is a woman who engraved the History of Quebec, in a certain sense. Doing this series is a way of paying homage to him, of saying thank you. »
Ordinary heroine
A mother of four, Chantale Daigle has retired from public life and would now live under a different name. In order to obtain his consent, Sophie Lorain wrote him a letter in which she explained the project for the series. Although she gave her consent, Chantale Daigle refused to participate in the project. The writers were therefore unable to contact her. But, thanks to all the material at their disposal, they did not feel the need to get in touch with the important actors of the time, such as Chantale Daigle’s lawyer, Daniel Bédard (Éric Robidoux), and those of her ex-lover, Henri Kélinda (Jean-François Pichette) and David Thomas (Patrick Hivon).
“The communication channel was Gaëlle, who spoke to the activists and nurses who stayed in contact with Chantale, reveals Daniel Thibault. It is part of the series. This woman was assaulted three times: by her boyfriend of the time, by the justice system and by the media attention it received. She didn’t want to know any of this. Without the collective support, without all these women who accompanied her to Boston, she would have been completely helpless. It is one of the beauties of history. »
“Forcing her to keep a child she didn’t want is also an assault in itself,” says the actress. It was huge for a 21-year-old woman; she was vulnerable, but that was part of her strength. Her family was very present, and forward-thinking in their own way, telling her that it was her choice and that they were going to support her. In her book, Chantale says she doesn’t believe she would have made it through this on her own. What I take away from this reading is that she was a loving woman surrounded by love. »
“Our breadcrumb was the telephone cord to illustrate this filiation of women, explains Isabelle Pelletier. She was a very ordinary, candid, carefree girl, the archetype of Persephone. But, with hindsight, we speak today of her as a heroine who delivers a message that our daughters and our sons need to hear. At first she did it for herself, but after a while something clicked. She understood that it was much bigger than her; this is what we inferred from our readings. »
Call for vigilance
Although the media talk about it every five years, Chantale Daigle’s fight remains relatively unknown to those who were not born at the time or who were too young to grasp the extent of the social debate it has aroused. In addition to collective amnesia, could it be due to the fact that, for some, the right to abortion is firmly established? As a reminder, in June 2022, the shutdown Roe v. wadea landmark decision by the US Supreme Court in 1973 that granted the right to have an abortion during the first trimester, has been revoked.
“It was hyperviolent, this decision, exclaims Éléonore Loiselle. It did me good to discover Chantale’s story, it gave me a little hope and strength that I lacked seeing all the news scrolling by. I told myself that there were going to be other Chantale Daigles in the United States. Her story is also that of many women. In my opinion, the right to abortion is a non-subject, and I want to say to these gentlemen: “Move forward with us!” »
“The worst thing about it is that it’s not just gentlemen: the toughest are the women,” says the author. What I would like us to remember from the series is that it is a call for vigilance. For Chantale, it was acquired, because at that time, in Quebec, it was possible to choose. »
“There were reactionary forces, but there was no resistance when we talked about abortion, recalls Daniel Thibault. What makes the story even more interesting is that all of a sudden, bang!, we could go backwards. With Alexis and Sophie, we were exchanging emails when the debates on abortion in Texas started, we were pumped! Every time the Conservatives are there, the question of the right to abortion comes up. »
Behind the desire to tell this intimate drama that has taken on the dimension of a national drama, the author does not hide the fact that he wanted Disobey. Chantale Daigle’s choice or a duty of memory. “It’s too important a story, it absolutely had to be told.” Let’s hope that the series will also be a history lesson that will do useful work.