I won't soon forget seeing the "Unplanned" film last night.
The film is not light-hearted. It is not two hours of escapist fun.
In fact, in its opening minutes, there is a scene of a doctor performing an abortion. What takes place is seen via an ultrasound machine. I couldn't help but walk away believing that abortion is a cruel, barbaric method for bringing a human life to an end. Sickening!
The film presents the journey of Abby Johnson from a naive college student who gets involved with Planned Parenthood as a way to support women's rights to a person who climbs up the corporate ladder, so to speak, to lead her own Planned Parenthood clinic to a person to is crushed by being a part of the abortion industry and is determined to get out.
Ashley Bratcher plays Abby Johnson in the film. She does a marvelous and convincing job of portraying a committed worker in the abortion industry who realizes that the women walking in the doors of her clinic are not just carrying a blob of matter but a living human being. When she finally sees what Planned Parenthood stands for and that its services are not designed for women's health, she breaks down under the weight of guilt and shame. It was heartbreaking to watch.
It was at this point in the film that I would have liked to have seen Jesus. Abby's heart needed to hear the Gospel. She needed to hear that in Jesus there is forgiveness. She needed to know that her guilt and shame - her sin - had been placed 2000 years earlier on Jesus as he suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world. She needed to be reassured that the faithful and repentant are not condemned but loved by God and set free to live for Him.
Nevertheless, the love of God is seen in Abby's mother and father, who keep on loving their daughter in spite of her career choice; her husband, who stands by Abby even though he strongly believes that abortion is the taking of a life, not a painless way of solving a problem; of the life supporters who offer love and understanding even while they pray for an end to the abortions performed at the clinic where Abby works.
I hope I haven't given too much away. I encourage you to see "Unplanned." It's not an easy film to watch. There may be times when you have to look away (as I did). There may be moments when certain scenes will drive you to tears (as I experienced). It's a remarkable film, a film you will not soon forget.
