January 14, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Facebook has blocked the promotion of a new movie chronicling the true story surrounding the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which imposed abortion on demand across the U.S.
A three-minute teaser for the movie, which is still in post-production but is slated for release later this year, will debut at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Friday.
Producer/Director Nick Loeb posted a link to a Hollywood Reporter article about the movie on Facebook today, but an effort to “boost” the posting in order to promote the movie to more users was flatly rejected by Facebook.
“Your ad isn’t approved because it doesn’t comply with our Advertising Policies,” was the rationale offered by Facebook.
The movie, which had to be shot in secret because of concerns about backlash from abortion activists inside and outside the film industry, boasts an all-star cast, including Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, who plays U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger; Robert Davi as Justice Brennan; Corbin Bernsen as Justice Blackmun; and Steve Guttenberg as Justice Powell.
Loeb himself plays abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the founder of NARAL who played a key role in the passage of Roe v. Wade. He later become a staunch pro-life advocate and then converted to Catholicism. Nathanson would go on to narrate the pro-life movie The Silent Scream.
Other cast members include Joey Lawrence, Jamie Kennedy, and Stacey Dash, who plays Dr. Mildred Jefferson, the first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School who became the cofounder of the National Right to Life Committee.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has run interference against the pro-life movie.
Last year, Facebook blocked access to the movie’s crowdfunding site, hindering efforts to finance the production.
“We need your support now more than ever. Facebook has banned us from inviting friends to ‘Like’ our page and from ‘Sharing’ our PAID ads,” the film’s creators wrote at the time.
Princeton Professor Robert George reacted in a Facebook posting, saying, “Given Facebook's claims to be a neutral, open forum for the discussion of important issues, I regard this as scandalous and I call on Facebook to cease and desist.”
Loeb has famously been engaged in a long-standing court battle to protect two frozen embryos he created with Sofía Vergara, his former fiancée and star of the Modern Family TV show.
“Everyday my pro-life stance grows stronger,” Loeb told LifeSiteNews last year. “As I’ve read the history of the abortion movement and educated myself on how it works and seen all the pictures…all have made me more adamant to protect life.”
“This has been a real journey for me and now I hope I can educate others,” continued Loeb. “Some who have been pro-choice have read my screenplay and have changed their minds on the topic…especially when they read the part about Dr. Bernard Nathanson. Some who had always thought what was in the womb was just a glob of cells now understand that this is a human life.”