12th & Delaware

Wearing my other hat as a filmmaker, I attended the international premiere of the abortion film, "12th & Delaware," last night at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto. It is a film about two clinics that are on opposite sides of the street at this Ft. Pierce, FL, intersection. One is an abortion clinic and one is a pro-life pregnancy care center with staff and volunteers that actively protest across the street.

The film is well-crafted, engaging the audience immediately in the subject. It also has tremendous access to the pregnant women who visit both clinics. As a producer, I was amazed that so many women would agree to be on film during such a stressful and pivotal time. The filmmakers spent a lot of time with both clinics and the film feels even-handed in the time it allots to both. It excels as a documentary, offering interesting characters and compelling tension.

Unfortunately, the "interesting characters" are all on the pro-life side. If you are pro-life, you have to admire on some level their dedication to the cause. But there wasn't much humility or grace exhibited, unfortunately, by many of the protesters. At least it was edited to feel that way. As the film progressed, I realized that may be due to the fact that the gospel never seemed to be reference point for these pro-life activists.

Even so, I found myself praying throughout this screening, especially when people snickered at the aborted fetus sign. That was a helpless human being whose lifeless, bloody body was on display. God help us all if that doesn't elicit some sympathy and respect.

The film ends with the statistic that there are some 4,000 pregnancy care centers in the U.S. and only 816 abortion clinics. And that was the focal point of the discussion afterward with the directors, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. Just like I was before I became a Christian, these were women working in the media who had never heard of pregnancy centers. I distinctly remember being shocked to find out about them when I began going to church--I didn't know there were any pro-life people who put their money where their mouths were.

And therein lies the offense. In the Q&A afterward, someone asked a question about what happened to the women who decided to continue their pregnancies. The directors said they got no help. All the aid that was promised by the pregnancy center evaporated, they said. That's when a man behind me asked if the directors were going to post "the truth" about these centers on their website. I raised my hand then to offer the perspective that not all centers are like that, but I was never called on.

At the conclusion, I was able to engage the man behind me in a short conversation. I asked if he would like to know my perspective, and I told him I had volunteered for five years with a pregnancy center that was quite dissimilar to the one portrayed (again, assuming an accurate representation). I had been a mentor to four pregnant women, relationships that had gone on for years in most cases. Each woman and her child received all kinds of material and emotional help from me and my church. To his credit, he listened politely and seemed willing to hear me out.

Then I was able to make the same point to co-director Rachel Grady afterward. I offered my sincere congratulations on a fine film, then I asked if she would like to hear my experience. I told her briefly about my years of mentoring work, which ranged from birthing support to baby showers to job networking to legal help with the immigration arrest of one baby's father. I wanted to let her know the center she profiled is not representative of all. She kindly heard me out and thanked me for coming.

I am grateful to have had these opportunities to speak up. My hope is that Rachel will remember this in future presentations and perhaps allow for the fact that not all pregnancy centers are represented in this film. I also hope you fine readers will attend screenings and humbly represent your perspective, however possible, to others present. I believe it is important that gospel-centered, gracious, pro-life people are present at screenings just for this reason.

Finally, we also have a responsibility to make sure the centers we know are accurately representing medical facts, are motivated by the gospel, are avoiding deception, are fulfilling their promises, and are in no way endorsing or justifying the murder of others--even abortion doctors.

Comments

[EM]

Great review and thanks for pointing out how different centers can be. Centers often have varying support models for their clients as well. Some follow a referral model (which can be relationally weaker) and others follow more of a mentorship approach (which I believe to be stronger). Also, many effective centers focus on helping the client develop a support network outside of the center - through church and community resources. Often these faithful efforts are not recognized as help because they are outside of the center.

[Leslie Bowden Nack]

Thank you for the information Carolyn. I hope to find a way to see the film. As the director of a pregnancy resource center, I appreciate your efforts to educate the filmmakers and others about your positive experiences. People on both sides of this issue can become very narrowly focused and refuse to listen to anyone with a varying opinion. Kudos to those you spoke to for listening.

[Allura Lightfoot]

Carolyn, thank you so much for posting this review. I look forward to seeing the screening, as well. I've been a sidewalk counselor for over 7 years in front of an abortion business in Orlando which kills babies throughout the entire pregnancy. Regarding the comment that all the promised help evaporates for the pregnant woman...sadly, I've seen that happen before, but we are blessed in orlando to work closely with several midwives (whose fees are half that of a doctor who delivers in a hospital), as well as cpc's who work heroically to help moms in unplanned pregnancies. Also, sidewalk counselors are asked often by aborting women and men, "Are you going to pay my bills? Are you going to take care of my baby?" Our response is that we'll do everything we can to help them. However, if you see a man beating his wife, wouldn't you try to stop him, even if you couldn't take his wife into your home to live with you?
God bless you, Carolyn, for raising awareness about the unnecessary tragedy of baby-killing in our country.

[Wendy]

Thanks for this.

[Jessica Finley]

EVEN abortion doctors. Wow, how enlightened of you. I sincerely hope I that I am misinterpreting the meaning of this closing statement, but it sounds so hateful and close-minded.

Although I disagree with you on almost every point you make in this post, I am still willing to hear you out as woman that has worked in a clinic with pregnant women trying to make a difficult decision. However, this last comment makes me think your entire argument is simply filler for a much deeper resentment and neutrality toward violence against physicians choosing to perform abortions.

[Carolyn McCulley]

Jessica, thanks for reading my review and for posting a comment. I appreciate your feedback and for giving me the opportunity to clarify myself.

Yes, I think you are misinterpreting my closing statement. I am saying that I and others in the pro-life camp should not endorse or justify the murder of abortion doctors. Perhaps my long-winded sentence made it hard to understand that. Though I believe these doctors have a shared responsibility for the death of hundreds of (or more) innocent lives, that does not mean violence toward these doctors is permissible.