Abby Johnson: Hollywood Is Now Little More Than an Offshoot of the Abortion Industry
Even though I’ve had a feature film made about my life, I still hold fast to the belief that very little good comes out of Hollywood and the entertainment industry, especially when it comes to abortion.
Hollywood has made it a mission to glamourize abortion over the past several years, making films that usually involve some kind of road trip, poor decisions, lots of awkward sexual moments and not a smidgen of truth about what happens during an abortion.
A new movie, “Plan B,” is being released via Hulu, and the mainstream media is already fawning over it.
The Associated Press, noting that yes, “Plan B” is another awkward sex scene turned into a road trip because the main character needs to have an abortion (in this case, she needs Plan B, the morning-after pill), proclaims the film “overwhelmingly a winner.” The New York Times calls the movie an “endearing comedy.” And The Washington Post gets all teary-eyed and says the film is a “genuinely moving testament to sisterhood, abiding friendship and unconditional love.”
One of the first films that attempted to thrust abortion into mainstream entertainment was the flop “Obvious Child” in 2014, which followed a woman who was facing an unexpected pregnancy and seeks to have an abortion. More films followed: “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and “Unpregnant,” which the mainstream press just adored.
“Obvious Child” was Planned Parenthood’s first foray into promoting abortion through movies. Now the nonprofit even has an entire division devoted to consulting on films and movies about abortion to “correct with facts.”
Planned Parenthood is the last place one should go to get acquainted with the facts about abortion. The organization actively takes steps to make sure the woman is not fully informed about her decision to abort.
When I worked at Planned Parenthood, we rarely showed women the ultrasound pictures of their babies and said that there would be little to no pain when they had their abortion and that they would be totally fine mentally and physically.
These were lies that we told ever so easily. Yet Hollywood has so grafted itself into the abortion industry that it is nearly impossible to tear the two apart.
When I was approached to turn my book, “Unplanned,” into a movie, I was skeptical and unsure for several reasons. I wanted my story to be told accurately, no matter how devastating it was to watch it. And it was difficult to watch.
The key abortion scene is right at the beginning of the film. There is blood, tears and an uncaring abortionist. There is me, holding the ultrasound wand over the stomach of the young girl on the table. There is the image on the ultrasound screen of the baby being ripped apart.
It’s really hard to watch. But it’s real. That’s what I saw and that’s what abortion is.
There are other abortion scenes in the movie. One where a young girl nearly dies because the doctor perforated her uterus during the procedure. Another where I have my RU-486 abortion — a bloody scene in the shower and bathroom that wasn’t even as bad as I actually experienced it myself.
“Unplanned” received an R rating. And I was more than satisfied with that rating because abortion is violent, it is bloody, it is the ending of innocent life that leaves lasting scars on women and their families.
Finally Hollywood admitted that abortion, in all its reality, did demand an R rating.
This is what we have to show if more movies are going to be made about abortion, which is bound to happen. Abortion is more than a road trip with friends. It is so much more than what has ever been shown on a screen.
It is devastating, brutal, cruel and a deep manifestation of evil. Hollywood needs to stop glamourizing abortion. If it wants to include abortion in storylines, then be truthful.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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