The wonderful thing about the Internet is that anyone can make their own documentaries and share their beliefs and thoughts, however us as audience members need to remember that these people have agendas and wants behind these documentaries, and what they show you isn’t always what it seems.

The LaBrant family are an American vlogging family that seem very religious in Christianity. They created an abortion documentary to speak to women who have gone through choosing not to have an abortion and even attempting an abortion, as well as doctors who have performed abortions on women and what that has done to their opinions on the topic.

In the documentary we see this couple speak to a few different women who have struggled with abortion in their lives, from a woman who was homeless when she got pregnant and not knowing how she’ll be able to handle having a baby, to another woman who tried to abort her now born daughter however the procedure did not go as planned and she was born several months later perfectly fine. It really gives you a white saviour look at abortions and every woman they speak to is very top level when it comes to this procedure.

At no point do they talk to women who have had children and realise that it was a mistake and that their lives have in someways gotten worse due to family issues or financial struggles etc. and at no point do they speak to any women who decided to have an abortion and thought it was the best option for them. None of these women were raped or abused and none of these women came from abusive households, and yes while some of them had to raise the child alone at no point were they coerced into having an abortion but it does seem that perhaps, due to the religious side of things, they were coerced into keeping the child.

What I found especially harrowing with this documentary was when they were showing an animated version of the abortion procedure the baby in that animation was fully formed, and so when you saw the abortion hypothetically take place it really hurt knowing that a fully formed baby was being ripped from life, however in real life most of the time abortions happen before the baby even resembles a human being and so this was a lot of emotional blackmail and coercion in my eyes.

It was also frustrating how everyone they spoke to had a religious background in that they either found God while going through this situation or they were already faithful to God and knew that it was part of His plan. What about women who don’t believe in a higher power? What about women who believe that their choices and actions are their own? And how hard must it be for someone to not have someone to turn to, to help them in their time of need and not have this higher power telling them that this is His plan. It’s very one note and so marginalised in the whole scope of abortion that it really doesn’t help anyone in this situation, because unless you are a white person or a person of privilege who believes in God you’re not going to resonate with these people, and really it’s just going to scare you in both situations whether you get an abortion or keep the baby.

If you are someone who is trying to look for choices in the situation that you’re in then I definitely don’t recommend this documentary because it is so biased. Even with the story we hear of the father in the LaBrant family, his grandmother was given up for adoption at four months old (which shows that their choice to keep her wasn’t the best choice for them at that time financially) and while he goes on to say that he is grateful that his grandmother was born because that meant his mother was born and ultimately he was too, if she wasn’t born then none of this would matter and this wouldn’t be a story. It’s such a selfish way to look at things that thank God that I was born even though my great grandparents had to struggle.

I am definitely pro-choice, I think whatever someone else does with their body isn’t something that I should have an opinion on as it doesn’t affect my life so why should I care? I think the biggest thing with any abortion talk is we shouldn’t look at that as an easy out of being pregnant but we should be concentrating on the contraception and the educational side of things to make sure that women and men are able to protect themselves from having to make such a big decision when really it’s something that no one wants to make.

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding