How did we go from Barney to this?
On Monday, PBS will be airing the documentary "After Tiller," which paints late-term abortionists in a sympathetic light. (You may recall our piece on this film from last year.)
The documentary claimed these abortionists are "victims" of pro-life aggression. The message was questionable enough, but even more egregious was the fact that the film was released on the heels of convicted murderer and abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s sentencing. Gosnell was guilty of killing babies, keeping their feet in jars and putting mothers’ lives in danger in his clinics. He performed late-term abortions - the same practice the people in “After Tiller” are trying to save. Now, PBS is airing the documentary as a part of their "POV" series, or “Documentaries with a point of view.”
Next week, @aftertiller airs on @povdocs. Join us this Fri for a chat in advance of the screening #AfterTiller pic.twitter.com/nmHey4hIjH
— NNAF Abortion Funds (@AbortionFunds) August 27, 2014Here is a description of the film from the PBS.org:
Martha Shane and Lana Wilson's After Tiller is a deeply humanizing and probing portrait of the only four doctors in the United States still openly performing third-trimester abortions in the wake of the 2009 assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas—and in the face of intense protest from abortion opponents. It is also an examination of the desperate reasons women seek late abortions. Rather than offering solutions, After Tiller presents the complexities of these women's difficult decisions and the compassion and ethical dilemmas of the doctors and staff who fear for their own lives as they treat their patients.
Clearly, the film has chosen sides in the pro-life/pro-choice debate. So, since PBS has chosen to air this more or less pro-abortion documentary, surely they’ll give airtime to pro-life films or documentaries like “The 40 Film,” right? Or, how about the upcoming Gosnell: The Movie? Filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney succeeded in reaching the funds necessary in their crowd sourcing campaign to produce a movie exposing Kermit Gosnell and the atrocities in his filthy abortion clinics. PBS will gladly accept that submission, right? Yeah, I won’t get my hopes up either.
Some have charged PBS with pushing a liberal agenda for years. In his book “Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV,” author Ben Shapiro got executives to admit that even shows seemingly as innocuous as “Sesame Street” have included bits of progressive propaganda.
This time, however, their agenda isn’t so subtle. If you are upset about PBS’s decision to feature a sympathetic film about abortion, write or call the station and insist you don’t want this kind of film to air on the same channel your children are learning their ABCs.
Update: At least one PBS affiliate, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, has announced it will not air the controversial documentary.