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UNBORN IN THE USA: INSIDE THE WAR ON ABORTION
Edited & Directed by: Stephen Fell & Will Thompson.
Produced by: Suzanne O’Malley.
Camera: Fell, Thompson & Joseph McKeel.
Music by: David Worrell.
Released by: First Run Features.
Country of Origin: USA. 105 min. Not Rated.

This college project turned full-length documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at one side and one side only of the abortion issue – the pro-life movement – and why it has of late been so successful in the war of words. If you are looking for both sides of the issue, this is not the film for you.

As students at Rice University, co-directors Stephen Fell and Will Thompson began the project in a documentary production class, and they used their student status to gain access. The film begins at one of the largest pro-life organizations in the country, the Focus on the Family Institute, where college age youth are taught how to debate in a confrontational situation. The training culminates at the University of Denver, where a graphic photographic exhibit of supposed aborted fetuses is displayed for the expressed purpose of igniting the campus.

At its heart, the pro-life is a religious movement, and Jesus imagery is strewn throughout. What is very interesting is how Mel Gibson's recent box-office blockbuster The Passion of the Christ has become a touchstone for this community, giving them a way to use popular culture to communicate with young people.

Part two brings in the radicals, those who make headlines for bombing clinics and shooting doctors. It is disturbing to see convicted murderers and bombers revel in their crimes, freely admitting that they would commit them again. However, at the annual March for Life protest marking the Roe v. Wade decision, a new wave of resistance takes hold, which could potentially alter the very fabric of the debate. Women who have had abortions, and regret the decision, voice their feelings publicly as part of a movement that has always been more focused on the fetus than the woman.

The film’s last piece focuses on the protestors outside one of the few clinics that perform second trimester abortions as they attempt to convince women not to go through with the procedure. In another scene, images of fetuses are blown up 20 feet tall and displayed on highways for the expressed purpose of disturbing and challenging the drivers and the public. The images are sickening, so much so that a pedestrian tries to pull down the posters.

As a first effort, the directors could have used a more disciplined editor as the film is way too long and at times seems self indulgent. Some of the transitions are quite painful and amateurish – some sections just stop and then start abruptly again on a new topic. Yet, it is eye-opening to see the machinations of this movement. Pro-lifers, for the most part, should be very pleased at how they are portrayed. Their opponents, on the other hand, come off at times as way too sympathetic and, quite frankly, normal. Even with its faults, this film should be on the agenda of those who are pro-choice so that they can get a picture of how far behind they are in framing the debate. Melissa Silverstein, a writer on women & popular culture and online editor for The Women's Media Center
June 15, 2007