"Blood Money—The Business of Abortion" is a much-needed and thorough examination of the history, industry, personal impact and human toll of abortion in America. Who should see this? Everyone. Age-appropriateness? High school and up. A great film for college campuses. There are no gruesome photos of dismembered or salinated babies (on purpose, although those have their place, too), but former abortionists and post-abortive women do describe abortion procedures and procedures gone (very) wrong.
This extremely professional, engaging, precisely-edited 2010 documentary was written and directed by David Kyle (david@bloodmoneyfilm.com) with an emphasis on educating Americans about how abortion became legalized in this country, about the incredibly blatant lies, deceit (e.g. "abortions" on non-pregnant women), lack of regulation and bundles of money (much of it undeclared) being made off of abortion, as well as the physical/psychological/spiritual ramifications on everyone involved in abortion. Men (fathers) as both victimizers and victims of abortion is also touched upon, but not at length.
Narrated by the elegant Dr. Alveda King (Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece), there is added attention to what many call "the Black genocide" in this country. Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, was a racist and eugenicist who gave directives to her followers to HIDE the fact that Planned Parenthood wanted to decrease the inferior Negro populations (by setting up shop specifically in their neighborhoods). An excellent magazine-style synopsis of how this continues to effect African Americans today is available free in .pdf format at: http://www.humanlife.org/did_you_know.php --multiple full color print copies also available.
Heavy-hitting pro-aborts turned pro-lifers Carol Everett, Dr. Bernard Nathanson (founder of NARAL and Jewish convert to Catholicism), Norma McCorvey (Roe of Roe v. Wade) tell of their odysseys. There's also input from long-time pro-lifers Joe Scheidler, Fr. Frank Pavone, and folks from HLI, Operation Rescue, etc.
"Blood Money" starts off like a hardcore History Channel investigation. All kinds of legal minds and politicians explain to us—in heavy legal, political jargon--the strange, unconstitutional, anomalous travesty of justice and usurpation of the power of "We, the People" that Roe v. Wade was. It's a little hard to follow, but one gets the message loud and clear that something went very, very screwy in 1973. And America needs to wake up and realize that this is exactly how social engineers pull the carpet out from under our feet literally overnight. Better we understand the democratic system we're living in. The film states that even the pro-abortion radical left (in 1973) thought taking away the inalienable right to life was completely indefensible and were astounded at the outcome.
How might post-abortive women and men react to "Blood Money"? They would definitely have to relive their pain--as survivors of the abortion ordeal tell their stories, but the film ends with accounts of self-forgiveness, healing and hope. I think it would be imperative, in a group setting, to have immediate post-abortion counseling available for women and men, but I would think that survivors would feel that THEIR story is finally being told, perhaps even their long silence is being broken by people who are ON their side and not pointing fingers.
This is not a hyped-up, overdramatized presentation. The subject matter is dramatic enough. Everything is so well-put. There is talk of those on "the other side" of the abortion issue, but there is no animosity or demonization. The closest the film would come to that is by simply revealing heinous facts (some revealed by former abortion providers themselves), especially the lack of care/compassion/cleanliness in abortion clinics, and how a kind of passionate missionary zeal FOR abortion seems to boil down two things: post-abortive women tragically needing to justify their own abortions AND the almighty dollar.
OTHER STUFF:
--We need to make sure we remember that those who have had abortions are all around us. Our family, our friends, the people in the pews with us, the people at the mall. We should always talk about abortion as though the people who hear us have had abortions. This doesn't prevent us from speaking the truth at all, but if we speak with compassion, it will signal that there is hope, that someone understands what they're going through.
--ABORTION DOESN'T PLAY FAIR. IT'S LEGAL. NO ONE TELLS US THE RISKS/CONSEQUENCES. IN FACT, THE RISKS/CONSQUENCES ARE SURPRESSED. LEGALLY.
--One thing I would like to have seen developed in the film is the role (or seeming non-role or prohibited role) of men in abortion. I have a theory that the time has come for us to "make" abortion the man's issue that it is. Pro-lifers tried making it about the baby. But nobody cares about the baby. Pro-lifers tried making about the woman which is much more to the point, but this also isolates her from both the baby and the man involved, as well as the larger community. Feminists also wanted to keep abortion a "woman only" issue because it was "her body" that was primarily involved. But no one is an island. Women are distraught, confused and desperate when confronted with a crisis pregnancy. So many of the women in the documentary said: "I felt I had NO other CHOICE." Many are coerced into abortion by boyfriends, husbands, family members, girlfriends. And abortion is supposed to be all about CHOICE and FREEDOM. Nothing could be further from the truth. And who is getting all these women pregnant??? Men. Men who demand that the woman gets an abortion, AND men who are willing to do whatever is necessary to bring their baby to term, but are silenced or ignored. It's time for men to be included—to call them to their responsibilities, and to honor their rights. But maybe that's a whole 'nother documentary.
--We need to call men to sexual responsibility. It's way easier for men to be selfish in this area than for women. We can't let them. Not just for the sake of women and children, but for their own sakes. Men CAN'T have their cake and eat it, too. Men CAN'T be pro-life and play around. (I think some men don't even realize they're pro-life until the woman they are with gets pregnant.) I have a friend who converted to Catholicism. She has slowly been helping her teenage son to become very pro-life in his thinking. One day she said to him abruptly: "Do you want to be responsible for an abortion?" "No!" he countered. "If you fool around before you're married, that girl could abort your baby and not even tell you, or even if she tells you, there's nothing you can do about it." Said teenage son promised he would not fool around before marriage.
--Women of ALL ages tell their abortion story.
--Some of the re-enactments and "sad teenage girls" looked a little staged.
--"Blood Money" just made me see the crying need for Theology of the Body as the ultimate abortion preventative. I was recently at Dr. Michael Waldstein's week-long classes on the writings of VJP2G on women and on the family. There was a 57-year-old woman there who had been part of the early hippie movement. She had 2 abortions and then went on to have 8 children. She was still grieving her 2 aborted children and had a lot of profound things to say. One of them was simply: "We have to get the word out that pregnancy is GOOD for women" (biology proves this). She explained that the earliest hippie movement (starting in the 50's) was a back-to-nature reaction against industrialization and what it was doing to the family (including taking the man out of the home). The hippie motto was "women and children first." But then the Pill came a long and they debated what to do. They embraced the Pill. Then abortion came along and they debated what to do. They embraced abortion. And the whole hippie movement fell apart.
--Pope Benedict's (unwitting, perhaps) summation of Theology of the Body applicable to our sexual behavior: "WE NEED A BETTER WAY OF RELATING TO EACH OTHER AS PERSONS."
--The biggest lie of the sexual revolution perhaps is that sex ≠ babies. But it does. Or rather, the lie that we CAN separate sex from babies, love from life. It simply can't be done, no more than we can tear God apart Who is both Love and Life. It's one of the most basic equations on the planet (like "drop this plate and gravity WILL take it to the floor") that we are in total denial about. We can TRY to prevent conception, but we KNOW it's Russian roulette (unless we get sterilized). We KNOW life is persistent and often finds away. But we act totally and completely surprised when we have sex and get pregnant. Of course this denial is often PLANNED IGNORANCE created by deliberate misinformation from the abortion industry that PRETENDS its giving us accurate information about contraception, PRETENDS it doesn't want us to get pregnant, BUT IT DOES! THAT'S THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER! WHY WOULD THEY NOT WANT US TO GET PREGNANT? They want to us to think they're in the birth control biz, but THEY'RE NOT IN THE BIRTH CONTROL BIZ, THEY'RE IN THE ABORTION BIZ! Just do the math and follow the money. The blood money.
--"Blood Money," without even trying, brings out the huge connection between contraception (we have firmly decided to have sex, but just as firmly decided NOT to get pregnant, as if getting/not getting pregnant were really up to us and we could absolutely control it once we are having sex) and abortion. So abortion becomes back-up contraception because we have already firmly made up our minds.
--If I wasn't a Daughter of St. Paul, I would totally be in the pro-life movement, EDUCATING. But I felt part of my call as a Daughter of St. Paul is to get to the roots, to work on preventative measures. I have found none better than Theology of the Body.
--There were people actually munching popcorn during "Blood Money." Probably the same ones who munched during "The Passion."
--I hope the filmmakers think about making the script available. Loaded with stats and great quotes of all kinds!
--For a showing in your parish or organization, of for copies of the DVD, contact: david@bloodmoneyfilm.com
--There's still time to see in Chicago—Park Ridge! Click on "screenings": http://www.bloodmoneyfilm.com/
--Cool pro-life idea: No need to re-invent wheel! Take your students to the Museum of Science and Industry (in Chicago)—57th Street and Lakeshore Drive—to the "YOU!—the Experience" permanent exhibit. It has real preserved fetuses, embryos, etc., and a fantastic 6-minute CGI film of life developing in the womb. All the plaques, the script of the film, the literature is TOTALLY PRO-LIFE. (Science is on the Creator's side.) It just keeps saying over and over again that the fertilized egg is YOU and that EVERYONE starts the journey of life the exact same way, as this tiny little thing…. Also has a kind of model of pregnancy from the woman's POV. Everything is totally personal, not cold and clinical. http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/you/the-exhibit/
--"Planned Parenthood" used to be called "The Birth Control Society," but "control" sounded too intimidating and not beneficial enough. Check out the old version of "Cheaper By the Dozen." The Birth Control Society lady is portrayed as an old biddy while families were cool. My how times have changed.
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