by Grace Carr
“Unplanned” hit theaters Friday and tells the story of a former Planned Parenthood director whose life changed after working at a clinic.
The film was released in over 1,000 movie theaters nationwide. It tells the story of former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, who worked at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas, until 2009 when she left the organization after assisting in an ultrasound-guided abortion of a 13-week-old unborn baby. Johnson was Planned Parenthood’s youngest director of a clinic in the nation.
She helped over 22,000 women have abortions during her time at the clinic. Planned Parenthood named Johnson employee of the year in 2008. She worked at the abortion provider for eight years before leaving the group. Johnson had two abortions before leaving Planned Parenthood.
“The film is a kingdom project that has the potential to shift culture,” actress Robia Scott told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Scott plays Cheryl, the clinic’s director, in the film.
The film does not condemn abortion outright, but aims to give the audience a clear picture of what occurs in clinics.
On Sunset Blvd Unplanned continues to make bold moves and put the truth out there… right out there…. in the heart of Hollywood on Sunset Blvd. #sunsetboulevard #hollywood #hollywoodbystorm #unplanned @unplannedmovie #moviepremiere pic.twitter.com/iwW1DDQj91
— UnplannedMovie (@UnplannedMovie) March 29, 2019
“It’s a movie about love, hope and redemption, not condemnation,” directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman told TheDCNF.
Ashely Bratcher, who plays Johnson, said she was intentional about never calling abortion “murder” in the film, because the movie is not about condemnation.
Viewers watch the progression of a woman who entered the abortion industry to help women and discovers that Planned Parenthood is a business whose biggest money-maker is abortion.
The goal of the film is to “inform the public so that abortion advocates truly know what they are supporting,” Johnson told TheDCNF. Putting her life on screen for the world to see is “a very vulnerable feeling,” she added, but ultimately worth it in order to “start a household dialogue on abortion.”
“It’s not about making abortion illegal, it’s about making it unthinkable,” Johnson’s husband, Doug, told TheDCNF. He played an important role in Johnson’s departure from Planned Parenthood.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted about the film.
I thought I was prepared for this movie, but I was not. It is breathtakingly powerful. Deeply disturbing, but also inspiring. The movie opens this weekend. Please go see it: https://t.co/zITH8W5Fpq
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 28, 2019
At its conclusion, the film offers a helpline to audience members who’ve had abortions or are struggling with a difficult abortion experience.
After leaving Planned Parenthood, Johnson founded And Then There Were None (ATTWN) in 2012 to help abortion workers leave the industry. The group also provides support to women who’ve had abortions and are suffering. Johnson has helped roughly 500 former abortion workers leave their jobs and find careers outside of the abortion industry.
Her group sent tickets to a number of Planned Parenthood clinics across the U.S. hoping clinic workers will see the film, Doug told TheDCNF. They also sent free tickets to dozens of pro-choice advocates, according to Doug.
Unplanned is rated R for “some disturbing/bloody images” of aborted babies.
Planned Parenthood did not respond to TheDCNF’s request for comment.
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Grace Carr is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Grace on Twitter.
Photo “Unplanned” by Unplanned.
