This 1997 movie is a satire about a destitute woman who is caught between pro-life and pro-choice activists.  

Ruth (Laura Dern) is a homeless, poverty-stricken woman.  She has a substance abuse problem, to put it mildly.  For example, she shops in a hardware store for spray paint that would be suitable for inhaling, and she is tempted by a boy's airplane glue.  She is totally incorrigible and not very sympathetic, but her single-minded selfishness is raised to the level of absurdity.

Ruth's singlemindedness is matched by the organizations she encounters.  She finds out she is pregnant (for the fourth time).  A judge declares her to be an unfit mother and suggests she get an abortion.  In jail, she meets a group of anti-abortion activists.  She is bailed out and taken in by a husband and wife (Kurtwood Smith and Mary Kay Place).  They persuade Ruth not to get an abortion.  Soon she is parrotting their slogans, except when their daughter takes Ruth out to party.

Before long, though, Ruth is "rescued" by a pro-choice activist and her lesbian lover.  The situation escalates to confrontations with the police, pickets and demonstrations from both sides, and finally visits by national leaders of both movements (Burt Reynolds and Tippi Hedron).  A bidding war develops over Ruth, and true to character, she is willing to join the side with the highest bid.

Both sides in the movie are presented as such extremists that they are ridiculous rather than sympathetic.  Ruth has had a terrible life, but she is so unmotivated to change her behavior that it is hard for a viewer to be hopeful about her prospects.  Even so, the movie illustrates a humanist principle that the absolute belief in a cause should not be allowed to overshadow the needs and wants of individuals whose lives are affected.  It illustrates how the needs of an individual can be lost in the inertia of competing organizations, both religious and secular.  The movie is rated R, and it is available on video.