Gisella Perl (Christine Lahti), a Jewish-Hungarian gynecologist from Sighetul Marmatiei, Romania, testifies before an Immigration &amp; Naturalization Service (INS) review board consisting of three men (Bruce Davison, Richard Crenna, and Beau Bridges). Perl is seeking to be granted citizenship after passing the New York State Medical Licensing Board examinations, wishing to begin practicing in New York. She recounts her early life when she aspired to be a doctor despite the admonishments of her father, her time practicing as a gynecologist before the German invasion, and her experiences as prisoner #25404, where she provided what medical care she could to fellow prisoners. Her most controversial actions included providing late-term abortions to pregnant women in order to save their lives. These pregnant women would otherwise have been killed immediately or subjected to the torture of horrific "medical" experiments.