We’re on the precipice of defunding millions from Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood aborts – kills – 345,672 babies a year – more than 900 lives a day. It now takes $616.8 million of your tax dollars a year – over $1.5 million every single day.
Planned Parenthood is profiteering from abortion, padding its bottom line by selling aborted babies’ body parts, and bragging about taking your tax dollars.
This indescribable evil must end. Now.
For decades, we’ve been fighting in Congress and at the Supreme Court to defund Planned Parenthood. Now in a stunning reversal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a new pro-life rule defunding more than $60 million of our tax dollars from Planned Parenthood – all of Title X.
This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood. But they won’t go down without a fight. Planned Parenthood and more than 20 states have sued to shield Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding.
We’ve filed legal comments to defend this new pro-life rule and are now preparing a critical amicus brief.
Petition To Defund Planned Parenthood
Title X was never intended to subsidize abortion, yet Planned Parenthood receives as much as 41% of the funds. For too long, our tax dollars have been subsidizing abortion against our will. Defund the abortion industry.
I got the following email today, and believe that this topic is too important not to share with you. – Pastor Ed
Hi Ed,
I need you to take action right away…
Today, the U.S. Senate will begin hearings on confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
As you may know, if confirmed, Judge Barrett could be the deciding vote on the court when it comes to possibly overturning the disastrous Roe v. Wade decision.
With Judge Barrett’s impressive legal credentials and judicial track record, and her acknowledgment of the medical and scientific fact that life begins at conception, we have good reasons to trust that she will lend her qualifications to the work of justice – on Roe v. Wade and beyond.
Ed, that’s why I am reaching out to you – will you join me in contacting your U.S. Senators today to urge them to vote to confirm Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court?
With the confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate promising to be an intense fight, it is critical that we let our senators know that they must swiftly confirm Amy to the Supreme Court.
With Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry doing everything to stop Judge Barrett from being confirmed, we must take action NOW!
Ed, your action today can make a critical difference. Every person who you can also get to take action will make a difference.
When you click below, here are two things you can do:
Email your U.S. Senators
Call your U.S. Senators
A quick note: when you select this option, you will receive a phone call from 571-475-9275 that will directly patch you through to your state’s senators. Simply follow the prompts!
We’ve provided a pre-filled e-mail and a phone script to make it easy for you to directly contact both of your senators.
Ed, you can contact your U.S. Senators to urge them to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court here:
Ed and Amy give their opinions on the recent laws that passed in 5 different states that have heavily restricted abortions. Ohio, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and now it looks like you can add Missouri to the list. We give our reaction and comment on the reactions of others as well.
When you are finished listening, here’s a link where you can give your opinion about this show or any other topic you would like to share. Who knows, we may even play your comment on a future broadcast.
Despite Twitter ban, paid media blackout and R rating, abortion biopic earns rare A+ CinemaScore and highest per-screen average of any indie-wide release film; expands in second week
LOS ANGELES, Ca. – The controversial abortion biopic UNPLANNED over-performed its pre-release projections to become the #5 movie at the box office this weekend. The film took in an estimated $6,110,000 or a cumulative per-screen average of $5,770 on only 1,059 locations across the country. The film received a rare A+ CinemaScore.
Industry projections underestimated the film’s performance, predicting $2 million to $3 million. Despite a widespread paid media blackout across mainstream and some faith-based outlets and a Saturday morning Twitter ban that was quickly lifted after online outrage, the film’s strong word-of-mouth propelled audiences to fill theaters across the country. Next week the film’s distributor plans to add an additional 600 screens for a count of 1,700 screens.
Partially financed by MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, the film is the true story of Abby Johnson, a former rising star in the Planned Parenthood corporation. As one of the youngest clinic directors in the nation, Johnson was involved in upward of 22,000 abortions and counseled countless women on their reproductive choices. Her passion surrounding a woman’s right to choose led her to become a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, fighting to enact legislation for the cause she so deeply believed in, until the day she saw an ultrasound guided abortion that changed everything.
“We are very happy for the success of this film,” said Pure Flix president Michael Scott. “To bring the story of Abby Johnson to audiences and have them show up in such large numbers shows how the topic of abortion is so important to our nation. We hope that those on both sides of the pro-life and pro-choice debate will see Unplanned and begin to have a productive dialogue. This film can be that spark to bring more hearts and minds to understanding the value of life.”
The film made national news last year when its lead actress Ashley Bratcher revealed that it wasn’t until she was on set and filming that she learned that when her mother was pregnant with her, she nearly aborted her. Controversy has subsequently dogged the film, first when it earned an R rating from the MPAA, then when several television and radio networks refused to air commercials for the film and most recently on Saturday when Twitter suspended the film’s page only to reverse itself an hour later after fan outcry and media inquiries. Going into the weekend, trailer views for the film had reached 250K. By Saturday morning, after an evening of strong word-of-mouth, trailer views climbed to 1.7 million. The film has a 93% positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“I am blown away by the public response to UNPLANNED as well as the box office numbers,” said Bratcher. “Not only is it beyond my wildest dreams, but it has surpassed the expectations of critics across the country. Despite biased critic reviews written more like op-eds, the audience has spoken. I just learned that Unplanned received a coveted A+ CinemaScore. While that is truly an honor, the most rewarding thing about this weekend’s opening is the flood of messages I’ve received from people experiencing healing and a change of heart.”
UNPLANNED was written and directed by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, the writers/co-producers of God’s Not Dead and God’s Not Dead 2, also distributed by Pure Flix Entertainment.
“We are thrilled, gratified and humbled,” noted Solomon and Konzelman. “We are so pleased that the American people have responded with such an enormous outpouring of support at the box office. It humbles us, and we look forward to seeing what happens in the weeks ahead.”
UNPLANNED stars Ashley Bratcher (WAR ROOM, 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN) as Johnson; Brooks Ryan as her husband, Doug; Robia Scott (CSI, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) as Abby’s superior at Planned Parenthood; Emma Elle Roberts (HUNGER GAMES:MOCKING JAY, I AM NOT ASHAMED,) as Marilisa Carney, Kaiser Johnson (LITTLE BOY, VAMPIRE DIARIES, SLEEPY HOLLOW); and Jared Lotz (OF LITTLE CONVENIENCE, THANKSGIVING) as Shawn Carney.
Opponents of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act say that it’s unnecessary and there are laws that already address the situation. Let’s look a just few reasons they are wrong.
The reason we need this:
The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would have required that “any health care practitioner present” at the time of a birth “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker promised to make his state the most “abortion-friendly” in the nation, and a pro-life law firm warns a new bill would do just that going far beyond the scope of Roe v. Wade, including legalizing self-abortions.
The legislation was introduced after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, endorsed post-birth abortions while discussing The Repeal Act, a state bill which sought to repeal restrictions on third-trimester abortions. Virginia Democratic Del. Kathy Tran, a sponsor of that bill, was asked at a hearing if a woman about to give birth and dilating could still request an abortion.
“My bill would allow that, yes,” Tran said. Northam, in a later interview with a radio station, backed up Tran.
“When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of, obviously, the mother, with the consent of the physicians, more than one physician, by the way,” Northam said. “And, it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that’s non-viable.”
The seven (now eight) states that have no gestational limits on abortion are: Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont, along with Washington, D.C.
House Bill 51, sponsored by Representative Joanne Ferrary, does away with a state statute from 1969 that made abortion a fourth-degree felony in New Mexico (except in cases of rape, incest, and harm to the mother’s health). However, being that the statute originated in 1969, the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade essentially did away with the statute – meaning that the 1960’s law is unenforceable currently.
However, fear of Roe v. Wade being overturned has led extreme abortion supporters to file for such outrageous abortion laws. HB-51, if passed, would allow for abortion without restriction up to birth in New Mexico.
Vermont’s new abortion bill is under fire from pro-life advocates as it would effectively sanction late-term abortion procedures and bar prosecution of “any individual” who performs or attempts an abortion.
The bill, named H. 57, which went before the state’s House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, was introduced just after New York and Virginia came under fire for bills making it easier to perform late-term abortions and – as in Virginia’s proposal – even allowing abortions up until the birth.
And do you want to take the word of the pro-death side of the equation? Well apparently President Trump didn’t:
The Trump administration announced Friday that it intends to bar taxpayer-funded family planning centers from promoting or perfoming abortions or referring women to other clinics for them — a move that is likely to yank money from groups like Planned Parenthood.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Title X program, a family-planning grant that helps approximately four million women a year, would be subject to a revision of regulations — including one that “prohibits the use of Title X funds to perform, promote, refer for, or support abortion as a method of family planning.”
On March 29, Pure Flix is releasing the movie “Unplanned”. We’ve had Pure Flix co-founder David A.R. White on the podcast more than once, and never has any Pure Flix film been rated higher than PG-13. However, “Unplanned” tells the true story of Abby Johnson, who defected from Planned Parenthood to become a pro-life activist. This movie does NOT have any of the following in it.: no profane language, nudity, violence, drug abuse or anything else that moviegoers typically associate with the R rating.
If we as Christians want to make sure our voices are heard it’s imperative that we support this movie by going to the theaters the very first weekend the movie opens. The numbers from that opening weekend determine whether or not additional locations are added which is needed for the movie to be a big hit or not.
The following quote really says all the is needed about the R-rating: “A 15-year old girl can get an abortion without her parent’s permission but she can’t see this movie without adult supervision? That’s sad,” said Ken Rather, the Executive VP of distribution for Pure Flix.
About Pure Flix:
Pure Flix is a Christian movie studio that produces, distributes, and acquires Christ-centered movies. Our VISION is to influence the global culture for Christ through media. Our MISSION is to be the world leader in producing and distributing faith and family media. Since day one, we continue to strive to make a difference for His name.
MPAA’s R-Rating for Anti-Abortion Film Disputed by Distributor Pure Flix
The organization says the R-rating on ‘Unplanned’ was for “some disturbing/bloody images” and was in no way politically motivated.
Pure Flix Entertainment, the family-friendly label known for distributing God’s Not Dead and a few dozen other movies aimed at Christians, will release its first R-rated film next month, and it is none too happy about having to do so.
The film, Unplanned, tells the true story of Abby Johnson, who defected from Planned Parenthood to become a pro-life activist. While the filmmakers were certain they were making a PG-13 film, the MPAA has informed them that it will, in fact, be rated R unless all scenes of abortions are removed or altered.
The filmmakers are refusing to change anything, putting Pure Flix in the awkward position of having to open an R-rated movie on March 29. The company’s other releases, roughly two dozen movies, were all rated G, PG or PG-13.
“A 15-year old girl can get an abortion without her parent’s permission but she can’t see this movie without adult supervision? That’s sad,” said Ken Rather, the executive vp of distribution for Pure Flix.
The situation prompted the filmmakers to fire off a letter of complaint to MPAA CEO Charles Rivkin.
“We consider the MPAA’s current standards to be deeply flawed, insofar as they allow scenes of remarkably graphic sex, violence, degradation, murder and mayhem to have a PG-13 rating, whereas our film, highlighting the grave dangers of abortion in a straightforward manner, is considered dangerous for the American people to view,” wrote Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, the co-writers and co-directors of Unplanned.
Pure Flix says not only will it not alter the film to get a PG-13 rating, but it also won’t officially appeal the decision, as it worries it would delay their distribution efforts to have the movie’s rating up in limbo. Also, appeals are historically a longshot. In 2017, for example, the MPAA rated 563 movies, five were appealed and only one was changed — that being Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 to Paris, which originally was an R before the appeal brought it down to PG-13.
The MPAA says the R-rating on Unplanned was for “some disturbing/bloody images” and was in no way politically motivated. It’s process involves a ratings board of about 10 people from all walks of life — all of whom have children — voting and debating until they come to a majority agreement.
“Any film submitter who objects to the given rating can choose to go through the appeals process. To date, the distributor has chosen not to,” an MPAA spokesperson said about Unplanned. “Our rules provide a detailed timeline for the appeals process. There was sufficient time for it to be completed in advance of the film’s March 29 release.”
The MPAA told Pure Flix that the most problematic scene featured a doctor gazing at a computer screen that shows the image of a fetus as the abortion is completed. The doctor in the scene is real-life Dr. Anthony Levatino, who says he has performed about 1,200 abortions over the years.
“The portrayal of a live, moving fetus disappearing is very accurate,” Levatino said. “You’re watching an abortion. It’s an accurate view of what’s happening. It’s disturbing if you recognize it’s a human life.”
“We have three scenes in the film which directly address abortion, and the MPAA objected to all three,” added Solomon. “They specifically made mention of objection to grainy, black and white sonogram images that were part of one of the scenes. It was clear that any meaningful treatment of the issue was going to be objectionable.”
The MPAA’s ratings board changes often, making it tough to predict its sensibilities on controversial social issues. In 1996, for example, it gave an R rating to If These Walls Could Talk due to “realistic depiction of abortions, a graphic shooting and some language.”
But for Unplanned the MPAA doesn’t mention “realistic depiction of abortions” as being a cause for the restrictive rating, and there is no profane language, nudity, violence, drug abuse or anything else that moviegoers typically associate with the R rating, says Pure Flix and the filmmakers.
“This story needs to be told and the message needed to be delivered,” says PureFlix president Michael Scott. “It is our calling as Christians to tell the story about the moral implications of abortion that the mainstream media refuses to acknowledge.”
Listen to our latest interview with Catherine Hadro by clicking here. Catherine is the host of EWTN’s Pro-Life Weekly is a guest of the podcast. We discuss March for Life 2019, the President and Vice-President’s pro-life support, as well a some of the recent legislation that is getting nationwide media coverage.
