After a successful theatrical run, this pro-life movie spawned a college fund that just awarded its first scholarship to a young mother who chose life for her unplanned baby.
Unplannned, based on a memoir by the same name, tells the true story of the transformation of Abby Johnson from abortion-clinic-director into pro-life advocate. The 2019 film stars Christian actress Ashley Bratcher as Johnson and - despite an aggressive campaign of suppression - it performed well at the box office, generating $21 million worldwide.
For Bratcher, herself the mother of a son from an unplanned pregnancy, this movie opened up channels of communication with girls in a similar predicament who reached out to her in droves. It was from those interactions that this scholarship idea was created to help young mothers who face financial challenges of pursuing higher education because they have chosen to go through with their unplanned pregnancies instead of aborting their babies.
Bratcher has stated previously that the movie is more of a "ministry" than just another role, so she partnered with Heartbeat International - a pro-life pregnancy assistance network - and they just gave out their first Unplanned Movie Scholarship to a woman from Idaho named Brittni. She has an 18-month old son and works two jobs, in addition to going to school full time, and Bratcher says she is a deserving inaugural winner of the $5,000 prize.
"She really embodies everything that we hope this scholarship will reward. She is courageous, she is kind, she is hard-working and we want to celebrate with her."
Congratulations, Brittni! And way to go, Ashley Bratcher! We really love to see our Christian sisters and brothers putting their faith into action like this. If you'd like to learn more about the scholarship fund, you can do so via this link. And click here to see Brittni get that first award.
Oh, and one other thing: Unplanned is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, so if you're a subscriber, watch it again!