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DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA Producer Hopes Movie Helps Reverse Roe v. Wade

Photo from Ben Watson’s Instagram

DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA Producer Hopes Movie Helps Reverse Roe v. Wade

By Cooper Dowd, Staff Writer

Elizabeth Kennedy-Ryzewicz, a producer for the new pro-life documentary DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA, has an ironic connection to the U.S. Supreme Court and says that her movie could help undo the prominent abortion court case ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973.  

“The film gives an unapologetically pro-life perspective that boldly tells the truth without any pretense of shame for pre-abortive or post-abortive women,” Kennedy-Ryzewicz said. “There are things in our movie that the mainstream media and pop culture don’t want you to know.”

The documentary explores the abortion issue with tact. It addresses Kennedy-Ryzewicz’s hope for the reversal of abortion rights in America.  One scene depicts Kennedy retiring and Brett Kavanaugh taking his place as former NFL star Benjamin Watson narrates: “Nothing could prepare the nation for the ramifications of the 2016 presidential election.”  

Kennedy-Ryzewicz is the niece of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who surprised many conservatives after his swing vote in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision in 1992, which upheld the U.S. abortion rights laws established 20 years earlier.   

Many onlookers were surprised with the Ronald Reagan-nominated justice upheld Roe V. Wade.

Despite the difference in political standing, Kennedy-Ryzewicz said her uncle appreciated the story she helped tell. 

“I asked him and Justice Clarence Thomas for an interview, but of course they can’t be interviewed on topics that could potentially necessitate they be recused from something,” Kennedy-Ryzewicz told Newsweek. “My Uncle Tony retired from the Supreme Court, but he’s still a federal judge who can sit on cases across the country.”

Kennedy-Ryzewicz continued: “[He is a] brilliant writer and voracious reader who really appreciates story” and enjoyed DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA “for its writing and symbolism involving the ocean, Lady Justice and Lady Liberty.”

Donald Trump recently nominated Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died September 18, 2020. With Barrett’s nomination, Kennedy-Ryzewicz sees a prospect for the 1973 court ruling’s reversal and hopes her movie helps sway people to the pro-life camp. 

“We have so many beautiful interviews,” Kennedy-Ryzewicz said. “Dr. Ben Carson, for example, gave us one of the longest, most overtly pro-life interviews of his career, but we cut it down to a few moments.”

The former presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon recalled operating on a baby still in the womb. 

Later in life, the woman thanked Carson for saving her life.

“That’s why no one will ever convince me that what’s inside a woman’s uterus is a meaningless bunch of cells,” Carson said in the movie. 

Another powerful aspect of the documentary are the testimonials from Melissa Ohden and Ryan Bomberger.  

Ohden, whose family forced Ohden’s unmarried mother to get an abortion, survived the procedure. 

“We’re actually called ‘the dreaded complication of abortion’… Accidentally, I was born alive,” Ohden said in the movie. 

Bomberger’s mother conceived her son through a tragic rape. 

“I’m that fringe example. I’m that exception that even pro-lifers have a hard time embracing,” Bomberger said in the movie. “I’m the 1 percent that’s used 100 percent of the time to justify abortion. My birth mom went through the horror and violence of rape, but she still not only gave me the gift of life but gave me the gift of adoption… What led to my conception doesn’t change my worth.”

Kennedy-Ryzewicz said it’s the interviews and often unheard voices such as Ohden and Bomberger that help DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA enter the abortion conversation with compassion and truth.  

Click here to read the full review of DIVIDED HEARTS OF AMERICA. 

 

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.