EDMONTON—A Lethbridge movie theatre owner is being hailed a hero and derided as a villain for his decision to screen the controversial anti-abortion film Unplanned, but he says it’s just business.

“I’m not either pro-choice or pro-life,” said Leonard Binning, owner of The Movie Mill, “I’m pro-business.”

Unplanned is a dramatization of the story of Abby Johnson, a woman who worked as a clinic director at a Planned Parenthood in the United States until she became an anti-abortion advocate.

National Campus Life Network — a group that teaches and encourages post-secondary students to become anti-abortion advocates — hailed the screening as a victory.

“We petitioned, we boycotted, and we won!” read an email circulated Wednesday.

“If it weren’t for the constant pressure we put on the individuals and organizations in the movie business, Unplanned would have never seen the light of day in Canada.”

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Critics, however, have called for abortion rights advocates to voice their concerns and boycott the theatre, warning the film is designed to further stigmatize abortion services.

“It is full of misinformation about abortion, which isn’t surprising from a propaganda film,” said Kathy Dawson, a board member with the Alberta Pro-choice Coalition.

Binning said he first became aware of the film when it debuted as the No. 4 movie in the U.S.

As a small “second-run” theatre, Binning said he is always on the lookout for movies he can acquire at a lower cost that can draw in big returns. After finding out that there was no Canadian distributor for Unplanned, however, Binning said he gave up on it and moved on.

“I knew nothing about it, I simply saw it made money,” Binning said.

He didn’t think about it again until several weeks later, when he started receiving “hundreds of emails requesting us to play this film.” And when a Canadian movie distribution company started offering the film, Binning said, “We have come to an agreement to, in principle, offer a screen to the distributor or a private group wishing to show the film.”

Showings were set to begin in mid-July.

Rather than some kind of political statement, Binning said the decision came down to “dollars and cents,” but having seen the scale of reaction, he’s now having second thoughts.

“There’s part of me that simply wants to back out and say it’s not worth the controversy and there’s part of me that says this now has become almost a free-speech issue,” Binning said.

Binning agrees with some of the criticisms of Unplanned.

“People have labelled it religious propaganda. I’ve seen the film, and yeah, there’s probably some religious propaganda to it, but it appeals to a certain crowd,” Binning said. “There’s many who are not going to see it who will consider it the worst thing imaginable, full of lies, and people have a choice to not go see it.”

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Binning said he screens all kinds of movies and independent films, including religious movies, that might not make it onto mainstream screens.

In an area where, according to the 2011 National Household Survey, 65 per cent of the population identifies as Christian, he says it’s just good business.

“They’ve got ridiculous storylines that people roll their eyes at, but the ones that embrace that, they love it, they eat it up and we’ve become known as their outlet for the occasional religious film because Hollywood doesn’t put out a lot of redeeming material,” Binning said.

The Movie Mill doesn’t shy away from controversial content, Binning said, adding his theatre showed The Interview — a comedy where Seth Rogen and James Franco play a producer and a reporter for an entertainment show who interview North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un — after other theatres pulled it over threats.

He disagrees, however, with those who have called for a boycott of his business for planning to screen the film, saying what he shows on his screens doesn’t automatically reflect what he personally believes.

“I would be the devil himself if I reflected everything that Hollywood put on the screen,” Binning said.

Dawson said she can understand why a business would try to cash in on the controversy, but said those profits have to be put into context.

“We understand wanting to make a profit, but we ask again, ‘At what cost?’” Dawson said, adding doctors performing abortion services are already targeted and forced into hiding, while those who have sought out such services are bullied and stigmatized.

“It fans up the extremists and gives them a reason,” Dawson said.

Binning said since news leaked that his theatre was considering screening Unplanned, he has been inundated with emails and phone calls from both sides.

“Every time I open my inbox, I shudder, because there’s another hundred in there,” Binning said.

Binning said the attention has given him second thoughts because he is worried about what his staff could face should the controversy surrounding the screenings reach a fever pitch.

“I have 15-year-old staff. I don’t want them subjected to undesirable situations. They’re simply popcorn poppers and bathroom cleaners,” Binning said.

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