Pro-Life in Hollywood
Being pro-life in Hollywood can often be the kiss of death for actors. But a new list of five pro-life male celebrities was recently compiled by LifeNews.com.
Those that made the cut include: Jack Nicholson, Eduardo Verastegui, Ben Stein, James Caviezel, and Mel Gibson.
Verastegui took first place on the list. The Mexican actor is best known for his 2007 film “Bella,” which his production company, Metanoia, produced.
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He was told he would never get work as an actor because he refused to accept roles that went against his Christian and pro-life beliefs. But “Bella,” in which Verastegui starred, won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2007.
Verastegui also donates to pro-life organizations and his own organization, Mantle of Guadalupe, raises money for a pregnancy resource center in L.A.
This year he said he is committed to building the largest pro-life women’s clinic in the U.S. and launched a website called IAmViable.com to highlight the lives of people born with disabilities.
He has also made it clear that he will not use his acting talents “except to elevate my Christian, pro-life and Hispanic values.”
While Verastegui is a devout Catholic and extremely open about his beliefs influencing his pro-life stance, he is joined by others on the list who became pro-life through their own life experiences, most notably, Jack Nicholson.
The story goes that Nicholson found out later in life that the woman who raised him was actually his grandmother, and his mother was actually his “sister.”
His mother got pregnant at a young age and was told to get an abortion, but chose instead to have him. This discovery changed Nicholson’s stance on the issue.
He said, “I’m very contra my constituency in terms of abortion because I’m positively against it. I don’t have the right to any other view. My only emotion is gratitude, literally, for my life.”
Author and researcher at Focus on the Family Glenn Stanton told The Christian Post that many people, especially young people, “continue to realize that life matters and this right to abortion is not all it was cracked up to be.”
He also said the arrogance and overreach of the opponents of life on the issue is something many people are starting to say they don’t want to be a part of.
Ben Stein, one of the celebrities on the list, agrees. He said, “I feel strongly that the tide is turning in our favor… one of the best, most important ways to give your life meaning and to live a decent life is to value life when it’s old, when it’s infirm, when it’s a different skin color, when it’s a different race, when it’s a different sex, when it’s a different religion, whether it’s born or unborn – and if you value life when it’s unborn, you set a standard for valuing life and for giving dignity to life that will stick with you and the society forever.”
Even though the list compiled was of the top five pro-life men, there are a few women in Hollywood that also speak up on pro-life issues.
Emmy winning actress Patricia Heaton, from the show “Everybody Loves Raymond,” speaks out publicly against abortion. She has done so in various media interviews and as the Honorary Chairperson of Feminists for Life.
Heaton said in a speech for FFL that "indeed the tragedy of abortion haunts women from all walks of life. Abortion advocates are spending millions to package their tired rhetoric and half-truths in cutting-edge advertising campaigns targeted to young women.”
Kathy Ireland, who used to be pro-choice, says she changed her mind after reading her husband’s biology and medical books.
When she appeared on the TV show “Politically Incorrect,” she said she learned from her reading that “at the moment of conception, a life starts. And this life has its own unique set of DNA, which contains a blueprint for the whole genetic makeup. The sex is determined. We know there's a life because it's growing and changing."
The Christian Post Daily Report 01.02.12
