Twitter Suspends “Unplanned” Movie’s Account as Pro-Life Film Opens in Theaters Nationwide, by Steven Ertelt

WASHINGTON, DC – Opening weekend has not been without issue for the pro-life movie “Unplanned.” The film, which covers the amazing conversion story of former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director Abby Johnson, had its twitter account suspended for a brief time today.

The Hollywood Reporter has more:

After several users screenshotted notices of the suspension on the service and tagged Twitter and its co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, the account was restored.

The Twitter account for the anti-abortion movie Unplanned was briefly suspended on Saturday, but has been restored to Twitter.

After several users screenshotted notices of the suspension on the service and tagged Twitter and its co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, the account returned. “Thank you everyone for your support in letting @Jack & @Twitter know when our Unplanned Movie account was recently suspended without cause. We are back and excited for the great response we’re getting in theaters this weekend. #grateful,” read its first tweet after the disappearance.

According to Twitter, Unplanned was not suspended on purpose, but rather was linked to another account that had violated Twitter’s rules. When one account violates those rules, the system then cracks down on linked accounts to mitigate the risk that the original, banned account would simply move accounts. After reviewing this case a second time, Twitter decided the Unplanned account should not be affected by the other’s suspension and restored it.

“It is a sad time we live in when corporations can remove individuals freedom of speech at will. When did we empower these corporations to have such authority? More importantly, why do we empower them to do so?” Cary Solomon, the co-writer and co-director of the film, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Despite the suspension, a source close with the movie informed LifeNews that the film’s box office take this weekend is surpassing expectations. Producers had a $3 million expectation for opening weekend and ticket sales have already reached $7 million and could rise higher.

An the suspension may have backfired on Twitter. It produced such a firestorm of controversy that the movie’s Twitter account has picked up tens of thousands of new followers:

As LifeNews has reported about the movie:

Unplanned is not a film to go see lightly. It certainly does not offer a fun cinematic experience, and it’s far from the kind of flick you’d enjoy over popcorn or nachos. But it is an important film, which is made painfully clear in the first seven minutes as Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson (Ashley Bratcher) watches a gruesome first-trimester abortion take place before her very eyes.

The film, which opens in theaters nationwide today, follows Johnson’s rise from clinic volunteer to clinic director, and her eventual pro-life conversion and spiritual redemption.

Based on Johnson’s 2012 memoir, the film’s true-to-life depiction of abortion earned it an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last month. Since then, many have pointed out the hypocrisy in our culture which allows a teen to have an abortion but prevents her from seeing a film about abortion.

But Johnson and the film’s producers have taken the rating in strides, refusing to cut the graphic scenes and embracing the MPAA’s categorization of the scenes as “violent.”

“We are pushing the boundaries of what has never been before on such a wide scale by showing America exactly what abortion is—and abortion is disturbing. It’s violent,” Johnson said.

Along with the opening scene, the film’s other graphic scene comes when Johnson endures the horror of a chemical abortion in her home bathroom. In an open letter to parents about the film’s rating, Johnson said, “In real life, I hemorrhaged so badly I thought I was going to die,” noting the movie captures her experience “without being gratuitous or gory.”