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Paul Kulas

Next Steps After Seeing UNPLANNED

Due to my busy travel schedule, I was unable to see the movie Unplanned until its fourth week in theaters. Thankfully it was still playing in the city where I live. My wife, Trudy, and I saw it late one Tuesday night.

Poster artwork used with permission

We were moved by Abby's powerful story of transformation after witnessing an abortion inside the Planned Parenthood where she worked as Director. I thought the movie was hard to watch. It tugged on a lot of emotions as we saw the characters’ stories develop, but I didn’t think it deserved an R-rating. There were only three scenes that had any gruesome or violent content in them.

I did appreciate Ashley Bratcher’s comment regarding the MPAA rating of the film. In an interview with Plugged In (which reviews popular entertainment from a Christian perspective), Ashley, the actress that played Abby Johnson in the film, said,

“Well, first I just want to say that the MPAA gave us the rating only because of abortion… There’s nothing else that warrants the R rating, except for the abortion scenes. They said if you’ll take out the abortion scenes, we’ll drop it to PG-13. Well then that defeats our entire purpose in telling the story.”

As important as it was to see and support the movie, it should be a springboard. It should spur us on to be active and engage our culture. What should that next step be? It depends for each person and what season of life he or she is in. Here are a couple of links to resources with a some ideas:

May I suggest one more? Have a conversation today. Having a conversation about abortion may not seem that significant, or you may not feel like you are doing enough. I find on campus that many pro-life people don’t know what their friends think about abortion. Many times their friends hold an opposing view to theirs, and they don’t know it.

“As important as it was to see and support the movie, it should be a springboard. It should spur us on to be active and engage our culture. ”

What does your neighbor, a family member, a friend, or a fellow churchgoer think about abortion? Your influence in that person’s life can effect real change in our world!

Want to learn how to start a conversation? I suggest you try our free Learn at Home Program, which gives you the basics for starting and having a conversation on abortion. Click here to request a Learn at Home packet, and along with it, you will receive two of our new brochures called, “An Invitation to Dialogue about Unintended Pregnancy and Abortion.” (Or, click here for the online version of all four Learn at Home 15-minute lessons.) You can also call our office (316.683.6426) to request Learn at Home materials by phone, learn about upcoming JFA seminars and outreach events, or talk to a JFA trainer directly.

Teach or Talk...or Do Both

JFA’s mission is to train thousands to make abortion unthinkable, one person at a time.  We have two simple ways to show that we are making progress on that mission.  We must teach others to talk to pro‐choice people about abortion, or we ourselves need to talk to pro‐choice people about abortion.  Sometimes our speaking events end up accomplishing both of these goals.  Below is a sample of reflections from high school and college students who attended a presentation, workshop, or seminar this fall.  Some of these students felt prepared to have conversations on their own.  For others, the content of our presentations made abortion unthinkable in their minds.

The video showed today really sealed the deal in my head that abortion is 100% murder.  It’s not that I wasn’t pro‐life, I just believed it [be]cause I was told to.  This video helped me form a complete opinion...that abortion is never the answer—very good presentation!

- High School Student, Presentation, St. Cecilia’s Catholic High School

To see five more student quotes and more commentary from Paul, continue reading The Kulas Kronicle, November 2016.

“I am pro-life, and I have marched in Washington D.C. with the pro-life march the past two years. I enjoyed the experience so much, but [I] never knew how to communicate with others. Thank YOU for teaching me how to talk about pro-life to people who are pro-choice.”
— High School Student

The letter also includes a picture collage of Paul's conversations in 2016:  Click here to see those pictures.

Changed Minds

Paul Kulas interacts with two students at the University of Oklahoma in November 2015.

Paul Kulas interacts with two students at the University of Oklahoma in November 2015.

In my November newsletter, "Unfinished Business, Part I," I noted for my supporters that shifting one’s position on abortion is a big change.  For many pro-choice people to seriously change their views—which would mean that they will now take active steps to protect human life from conception—it typically takes time and contemplation.  Making a shift of that magnitude would mean that one could go from promoting abortion and even taking a friend to get an abortion to promoting life by helping a friend not get an abortion and aiding that mother after the birth of her child.  It is a blessing and very encouraging, then, when we see a complete change in someone’s position unfold before our eyes.  A few JFA staff members have written letters within the last year that highlight some of these dramatic, abrupt changes of mind in pro-choice students:

When these abrupt changes happen, though, we humbly recognize that the change has resulted also from the work of others who cultivated the ground, planted seeds, or watered the ground before us.  We shouldn’t expect to see a complete change of mind in every conversation then, because minds change gradually.  Rather, we may praise God for the small changes and progress that He allows us to see in almost every conversation.  I highlighted two of these conversations from my own experience in my newsletter this month, "Unfinished Business, Part II."