The US Christian film company behind God’s Not Dead have released a film dealing with the issue of abortion. Called Unplanned, it takes the true story of a Planned Parenthood clinic director who came to change her mind about the whole abortion industry. The film graphically shows the reality of what abortion is: the violent destruction of an unborn child. It has been on theatre release in America and will be available online in the UK.
I have not seen the film, and I came across it because of a review in the Guardian. Entirely predictably, secular media have been scathing in their response. Having not seen the film I am in no position to pass comment on the production values or acting. I have no idea if the single star rating (they can’t give lower) in the Guardian is justified. But what was interesting in that review is why they were so dismissive of the film.
Charges
The film is labelled ‘anti-abortion propaganda’. Apparently the gore is ‘disgusting’ as it portrays ‘grisly abortion complications’ and the film has many ‘ghastly scenes of blood’. It follows the story of a counsellor working at an abortion clinic who gradually becomes repelled by the reality of what abortion is and eventually sees the clinic closed. The reviewer points out ‘corny closeups’ and a plot ‘ham-handedly stitched together’, which may well be the case. However, the most damning charge is that the film was part financed by a businessman who has been the subject of lawsuits and is a supporter of Donald Trump. I wonder how many films are critiqued by reviewers on the basis of such flimsy guilt by association?
The reviewer also labours their agenda by describing the pro-life campaigners as ‘anti-choice’ activists. Films with gore, blood, and violence fill our theatres and get little comment, whether the visuals are realistic or not. But this film, with gory sequences representing a standard, daily medical procedure, is singled out for scorn.
Since the 1967 Abortion Act it is estimated that there have been over 8 million abortions in the UK. No doubt these have been for countless different reasons, and the ethical and medical issues are complex (though 98% of legal abortions are for what are classed as ‘social’ reasons). But abortion remains what it is; the killing of an unborn child. It is this fundamental fact that many people wish, at all costs, to obscure or hide.
Concealing?
However, it is hard to keep trying to hide the truth and the inconsistency of many in the secular media is self-evident. For example, in 2018 the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities called for a ban on testing for an unborn child’s sex because of the fear of gender-selective abortions. Why such opposition if it is simply a woman’s choice regarding a piece of tissue? Another example from 2018 is that three university Student Unions prohibited a pro-life organisation from having an exhibition at Fresher’s Week fairs. It is ironic that this is supposedly done because the relevant Student Unions supported pro-choice. Silencing alternative views hardly seems a healthy platform for encouraging choice.
The Christian response to abortion needs to be both clear and kind. It also needs to demonstrate real, practical support for single mothers bringing up children in difficult circumstances. But there are wider issues of truth that are also at stake. Whatever the merits of Unplanned, it is good to hear of an attempt to have the facts made plain in the public square.
