Kermit Gosness
The producers of a movie about abortionist Kermit Gosnell were forced to find other funding for their film after Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, refused to approve the project.
Phelim McAleer, his wife Ann McElhinney, and Magdalena Segieda’s goal was to raise $2.1 million in 45 days for their scripted drama, to be based on the Gosnell trial and grand jury report. The three had used Kickstarter in the past to fund their FrackNation documentary about the fracking (hydraulic fracturing oil recovery) controversy.
McAleer received a message from Kickstarter demanding that “the phrase ‘1000s of babies stabbed to death’ and similar language be modified or removed from the project” because “our Community Guidelines outline that we encourage and enforce a culture of respect and consideration.”
The producers withdrew their movie from Kickstarter and shifted it to Indiegogo instead. Eight hours later, Kickstarter stated that the project had been approved, but with a warning that there is a chance the project could be removed after review.
Another pro-life film called Stolen Moments by Jason Vaughn about moments in life taken away by abortion was also rejected in early April within two weeks of the Gosnell refusal because the film allegedly offered “self-help” advice. Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler later wrote to Vaughn apologizing for the wrongful rejection.
Fox News Contributor Kirsten Powers, in an appearance on “The Kelly File,” commented that they “were essentially being asked to remove – to make a movie about a criminal – but being asked to remove the description of the crime that he committed” and that Kickstarter’s later conciliatory response was because the website was “shamed by the media.”
“It’s clear Kickstarter is a site for narrow ideas where no diversity of opinion is tolerated,” McAleer’s team told the Media Research Center. McAleer also noted that Kickstarter had hosted projects about incest, stabbing, and rape, as well as ones that used the f-word in the title, in an email to the crowdsourcing site.
Kickstarter has funded controversial projects in the past, such as After Tiller, a Sundance-acclaimed documentary that positively portrayed America’s late-term abortionists.
The Gosnell project has been endorsed by Sarah Palin, as well as actors Nick Searcy and Kevin Sorbo. Sun News commentator Ezra Levant also wrote a column promoting the movie, noting that a film about Gosnell “would undermine the official narrative that abortions can’t be criticized, that late-term abortions are a myth, that it’s all safe and sound and medically approved and happy.” The film is already the most funded movie on Indiegogo.
The record for crowdsourcing is held by the movie Veronica Mars on Kickstarter, which had a goal of $2 million and raised $5.7 million. McAleer, McElhinney, and Segieda raised their goal of $2.1 million meaning the movie is a go. No release date has been set.
