Pro-Life 'Aaron' Video Offers 'Forgiveness' to Mothers Who Choose Abortion
A new video by the American Family Association that tells a fictional story about a mother reminiscing and seeking forgiveness for the boy she could have had had she not chosen abortion, has turned out to be based on some very real-life experiences.
"Abortion is not just about the child, it is also about the mother – there is a lot of emotional trauma that comes with an abortion," Kendra White, director of the five-minute long video titled "Aaron" shared with The Christian Post in a phone interview on Wednesday.
"Aaron" is a short film about a mother who celebrates her young son's birthday by baking a cake and taking him to the park, where they play together. After losing him at the playground, she calls her partner in distress – only to be reminded that the couple decided not to have the baby, and every year on the day that would have been his birthday, she imagines what life would have been like if he was with them.
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White told CP that the general idea behind the video was to have viewers see the child alive and living, so that they can feel the same sort of grief that women who have aborted children and later regret their decision experience.
The director also revealed that Vanessa Ore, the actress who played Aaron's mother in the video, has a story all too similar to her character.
"We were trying to find an actress to be in the lead role, and really we were having trouble trying to find the right person that would fit the profile that we needed," White said. She added that her team prayed to be guided to the right person to play the role, and soon after stumbled upon the proper candidate on the Internet Movie Database.
"We talked to her on the phone, and something just felt right. We had other actresses that auditioned for the role that were more experienced, and probably logically would have been a better choice, but our intuition was to work with Vanessa, not knowing her story."
The director said that it was only after they gave Ore the role that they came to know her full story.
"She had had an abortion and has dealt with some scars her entire life, and is currently filming a show called 'Surrendering the Secret,' which will be airing in a few months. It is a show about women who have gone through an abortion and are going through the journey of healing. She is one of the leading characters on the show, and said how healing it was to just be a part of such a project," White said.
On filming "Aaron," the director said: "There is a scene at the very end where Aaron says 'I forgive you mom,' and Vanessa would tear up every time we talked about that scene. She just said how healing it was just to be able to hear that, and how she wanted other women to know that there is forgiveness for them."
White explained that the goal behind the video is to help people realize that abortion is about an actual child with real thoughts – "and not only that, but the decision will not only affect the life of that child, but it will also emotionally scar them, and it will be wound they will have to carry until the rest of their life."
As for the feedback they have received for the video, White noted that a lot of women who have gone through abortion admit that, even though may not recreate such a fantasy, they do experience lots of regret and grief either on the day that they had an abortion, or the day that the child would have been born.
"One lady on Facebook said that she saw the video on the day that would have been her child's birthday, and it really ministered to her and reminded here that there is forgiveness. Since the video, Vanessa has also had a ton of women who have been contacting her on Facebook, and so she's been able to tell them that there is forgiveness for what happened to you," White concluded.
