Pro-Life Movie "Bella" Wins Award

(Hat tip: Julie D.)

Columnist Robert Novak writes:

WASHINGTON -- An invited audience including Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez gathered at the National Geographic Society's auditorium in Washington Monday night for a screening of "Bella," an independently produced feature film. No mere movie, it offers hope for the beleaguered anti-abortion movement to reverse the political tide running against it.

This was the eighth such screening in Washington. Monday night's audience reflected the reaction in more than 100 showings nationwide: an emotional experience for a stunning exhibition of cinema art that unexpectedly won a Toronto Film Festival award. It is no propaganda film but a dramatic depiction of choices facing an unmarried pregnant woman.

"Bella," unknown to the general public, has generated excitement and anticipation in conservative Catholic and other anti-abortion circles. The problem is getting the film in movie theaters around the country for its public premiere early next April. That is never easy for an independent film with no box office names, but the problems are magnified when its message runs counter to the social mores of Hollywood.

"Bella" arrives in an environment that has grown bleak for enemies of abortion. The Democratic Party has become so much the party of abortion rights that of 41 freshmen Democrats elected to the House, only three are anti-abortion. Pro-life forces in the House suffered a net loss of 13 members. That means statutory restrictions on abortion, which must be renewed by each Congress, are now in serious jeopardy.

The loss of numerical strength on Capitol Hill reflects a public relations and political victory by the abortion lobby. Republican politicians tend to give only lip service to the issue, typified by President George W. Bush's silence on abortion. Republican candidates have accepted support from pro-life forces -- and then kept quiet about abortion, leaving the field open to pro-choice advocates.

Thus, the anti-abortion movement sees "Bella" as providential. It is entertainment, not propaganda. Although Monday's screening was sponsored by the National Council for Adoption, the word "adoption" is uttered only once in the film. There are no tirades against abortion. Indeed, it acknowledges a woman's pain of carrying a baby to term only to give it up for adoption. In the end, however, the film is a heart-wrenching affirmation of life over death.

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