Health Care

Joss Whedon’s Short Film Shows What Losing Planned Parenthood Could Look Like

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Joss Whedon/Instagram

Joss Whedon, the man who brought you not only Buffy the Vampire Slayer but also The Avengers, has been a vocal supporter of Planned Parenthood for years. His latest #StandWithPP effort is the powerful short-film UNLOCKED, which seeks to show the impact Planned Parenthood has on its patients at various stages of their lives and what losing access to its services would mean for different people.

In just under three minutes, UNLOCKED powerfully depicts how life would be very different for a woman without access to cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, a young couple without access to Planned Parenthood's sex ed, and a young woman without access to contraception counseling at Planned Parenthood. In the Planned-Parenthood-free world depicted in the film, the woman's cancer goes undetected and is ultimately fatal. The young couple reckons with an STI while their peer agonizes over what she could have done to help them. And because of an unplanned pregnancy, the young woman does not attend college after being offered a full scholarship.


In the reality in which Planned Parenthood is operational, however, the woman's cancer is caught and she is able to continue celebrating birthdays with family and friends, the couple learns about healthy relationships while their peer serves as a sex educator, and the young woman shows up at college, ready to pursue her educational goals.

The message: Planned Parenthood improves and even saves lives. By the organization's estimate, it provides health services including STI testing and treatment, birth control, and cancer screenings to some 2.5 million people a year. But these services are under threat as the GOP attempts to cut off funding to the organization. The "repeal and replace" bill recently passed by House Republicans, for example, has a provision banning Planned Parenthood from serving as a Medicaid provider.

"If politicians succeed in shutting down Planned Parenthood, millions of people lose access to basic health services," writer-director Whedon said in a statement of his motivation for making UNLOCKED. "I’ve supported Planned Parenthood in the past, but until I worked with them closely on this, I didn’t understand how many services they — and for some, they alone — provide... Planned Parenthood is a beacon of hope, and anyone trying to shut it down is committing an act of evil... I just wanted to remind those of us with some humanity still stirring how much is at stake."

"This powerful and emotional film brings to light the impact that Planned Parenthood plays in the lives of patients and communities every day," Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards added in the statement. "I'm so proud of the quality care we provide and encourage people to come see it for themselves at one of our nearly 650 health centers across the country."

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