HBO recently came out with a teen movie called UnPregnant. The movie is about a 17-year-old girl in high school named Veronica who finds herself pregnant. She lives in a state that requires parental consent for abortion and doesn’t want to tell her conservative parents. The nearest state that allows consent-free abortions for underage girls is New Mexico, so she convinces her childhood best friend to road trip over the weekend.
She tells her parents she’s “studying at a friend’s house for the weekend” and then heads off with her friend for what seems like a grand adventure. The soundtrack is peppy and lighthearted. The overall theme is happy and fun, which is the exact opposite of abortion (as many post-abortive women will tell you).
Although there are many issues with UnPregnant, here are the four major issues that need to be addressed.
UnPregnant glorifies abortion.
At the beginning of the movie, Veronica is terrified to tell anyone she is going to get an abortion. She feels uncomfortable even saying the word. But throughout the movie, she becomes more and more comfortable with the topic. As the characters in the movie slowly become desensitized to the truth of abortion, so do do the viewers. At least that is the whole goal of the movie. Comments like “It’s not a baby yet” are found all throughout the movie. Not once do they talk about what the procedure is like, what the recovery is like, or the possible risks. Abortion is damaging, and this movie makes it seem like a fun weekend trip.
UnPregnant encourages abusive boyfriends.
After Veronica finds out she’s pregnant, she goes to her boyfriend Kevin to tell him. Immediately, he proposes, and tells her he will support her. This is exactly what many women need from their baby’s father; coercion is a huge reason for abortion.
Instead of being relieved the father of her baby wants to be involved, she is upset that he expects her to keep the baby. Several times he tries to convince her to keep the baby and let him help her, but she continues to disregard him. She calls him a stalker and tells him he doesn’t have a say. The only thing this narrative accomplishes is encouraging young men to avoid responsibility. We need men to take responsibility and support women. We should encourage men to be strong and present.
UnPregnant depicts a false view of pro-lifers.
They openly mock them, and portray them as lunatics. Whenever a pro-lifer is mentioned or seen in the movie, they are overbearing, aggressive, creepy mobsters. While watching these scenes, one would think the pro-life characters were about to murder someone. If the goal of the movie was to paint the Pro-Life movement as a dangerous enemy, they succeeded, although its hard to believe any person would fall for this. The Pro-Life community is loving and cares for women and babies. The people who fight for the preborn about passionate about empowering women to succeed as mothers and support them in their endeavors. The screenwriter either has never been to a pro-life event or maliciously decided to paint their own picture that suited their agenda.
In-your-face irony about the role of fathers.
One of the main plots in the movie is the friendship between Veronica and her childhood ally Bailey. Bailey’s father left when she was young and lives with her mother. However, she found out her father lives in New Mexico. She decides to visit him after years of not seeing him. She shows up to his work, hoping for a father-daughter reunion, and he immediately asks, “Why are you here?” Heartbroken that her father doesn’t want to see her, she walks away defeated, but Veronica comes to the rescue.
She marches up and gives him a grand speech about how he does not get to avoid responsibility. She goes on about how valuable, loving, and kind Bailey is. He tells them he never wanted kids, and Veronica responds by telling him that he doesn’t get to avoid responsibility because he is her father. His daughter matters. As she is on her way to kill her own child. She pushed away the father of her baby and then turned around to lecture the father of her best friend for not being involved. She shouts about the value of her friend while she fails to see the value of her baby. It is surprising they even allowed that scene to be in the movie, because it is so contradictory to the overall message they were trying to force.
Overall, 10/10 on the gross scale.
The entire movie tried to normalize abortion and make girls feel like it is courageous to engage in premarital sex, get pregnant, and then go behind their parents’ backs to get an abortion. In the beginning, Veronica is scared and ashamed to get an abortion. But by the end, she’s proudly shouting it from the rooftops. But that’s not the reality of abortion. Abortion only takes. Abortion is heartbreaking and hurts women. UnPregnant is lying to us. We need to flip on the light and shine truth in the darkness. Abortion is not an adventure, and glorifying it like this spits in the face of thousands of women who feel betrayed by the abortion industry.
If you are a parent, talk to your children about this movie. Use it as an opportunity to start an important conversation about abortion. If you have a subscription to HBO or HBO Max, cancel it.
