A Pro-Choice Review of 'Unplanned': Movie Makes Even the Strongest Abortion Supporters Reconsider
Despite a vast array of factors standing in the way of success, the pro-life movie “Unplanned” — which takes a decidedly critical view of abortion providers Planned Parenthood — opened in theaters this weekend with surprisingly robust ticket sales.
The film is centered around the real-life story of a former manager of a Planned Parenthood clinic who has second thoughts about her position on the issue after witnessing abortions first-hand. She has gone on to become an outspoken critic of her former employer and the abortion industry in general as she now supports the right to life of unborn babies.
The pro-life film has faced staunch opposition from the predominantly liberal mainstream, such as receiving an “R” rating that will undoubtedly keep away some viewers, a refusal of some networks to air ads for the film, and even what appeared to be coordinated efforts by social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to suppress accounts affiliated with the film in order to stifle its reach.
Despite all of those obstacles and more — or perhaps because of them — viewers flocked to see the film that tackles the abortion issue in a brutal, if thought-provoking manner, as evidenced by a review of the film from a self-proclaimed pro-choice viewer.
Writing for the Central Florida Post, a woman named Bridgette Bayley — who described herself as a pro-choice libertarian — admitted that the “Unplanned” movie had forced her to question many of the assumptions she had held as true with regard to abortion.
Bayley wrote that she initially resisted the efforts of a pro-life friend to get her to see the film, but eventually relented out of respect for her friend and the expectation she would have if she’d asked her friend to go see a movie about an issue that was important to her.
“I wish I had asked more questions. I almost wish I had not gone,” Bayley wrote. “Before the film, we got our drinks and smiled in front of the movie poster for Instagram, I had no idea how quickly our smiles would be wiped from our faces.”
Bayley wrote, “Unplanned was a bloody, emotional spiritual roller coaster.” She noted the irony of how conservatives tend to emphasize “facts over feelings” when the movie did the opposite, in her view, but noted how in doing so, the film managed to “tug on my heart strings in a way that actually made me reflect on a subject that I felt so confident on my beliefs of.”
She admitted that she had been “moved to tears” several times during the film, and expressed her appreciation for how the movie didn’t demonize the regular employees at Planned Parenthood clinics, but instead portrayed them as normal people who were misguided into believing that what they were doing was morally right and acceptable.
“By the end of the film, I was completely distraught, questioning everything I had ever believed about what abortion really was. I was hungry for more information, I went to Google, I talked with friends and I prayed,” Bayley wrote.
She declined to delve any further into whether her political affiliations and broader beliefs were substantially changed by the film, and stated that she still had plenty of questions about what she had seen in the movie. However, she admitted that she had been proven wrong when she entered the film with the mindset that nothing would change her core beliefs on the subject.
“What I saw DID make me question myself and my beliefs and I believe that EVERYONE should go and test themselves as I did,” she wrote.
Bayley encouraged everyone on both the pro-life and pro-choice sides of the debate to see the movie for themselves, for two distinct reasons. Pro-lifers should see it to realize not everyone who works in a Planned Parenthood clinic is a remorseless and evil monster, and pro-choicers should “go and expose yourself to a different perspective and compare that to your own reasons for your vote.”
“This film will challenge you in a way that politically-charged Facebook disputes never will,” she concluded.
This account of the pro-life film from an admitted pro-choice supporter of abortion is simply incredible and has gotten plenty of attention. Posted on the “Unplanned” movie’s Facebook page, it’s been shared more than 6,000 times from there alone.
We commend Bayley for not only keeping an open mind when viewing the film, but also having the bravery to publicly admit how it so thoroughly challenged her views on the subject.
Given the vehemence with which the pro-choice protects and defends abortion, Bayley’s admission is an unpopular one on that side, but it is correct. Hopefully others who have supported abortion will similarly see the movie with an open mind and come away with a changed heart.
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