By Michael Thompson
WASHINGTON – At the annual March for Life rally here this week, among the more than 90,000 pro-life advocates enduring steady downpours and icy temperatures to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, was a man trying to keep a promise made decades ago to a high school flame.
It was amidst the busloads of students from around the country who joined hundreds of groups dedicated to reversing the decision that made abortion legal nationwide that WND found Jason Jones, the executive producer of the critically acclaimed 2007 movie "Bella."
While students and others were marching from the National Mall to the steps of the Supreme Court building with signs that read "Defund Planned Parenthood" and "I am the Pro-Life Generation," Jones explained why he's been in attendance at the event for 20 years.
"I've been coming here for 20 years, and I'm going to come here as long as it takes until we see full legal protection for the human person from biological beginning," he said.
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He said it was a personal experience more than 21 years old that compels him to be an advocate for life. It involved a promise that still motivates.
"What brought me here was as a 17-year-old boy, I got my girlfriend pregnant. While I was at basic training, her father found out she was pregnant and forced her to have an abortion. I didn't even know abortion was legal, she called me crying and I promised her that if it took me the rest of her life I'd end abortion for her," he said.
"Now I know I won't end abortion myself, not one person can end abortion, but I know that together I can add my effort to the hundreds of thousands who are here and to the millions who wished they were here to work for life and I know I'll be able to keep the promise that I made to my high school girlfriend 21 years ago."
As executive producer of "Bella," a pro-life film that won the 2007 People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, Jones has been able to bring that promise of advocating for life to the big screen.
Late last year, Jones started a new website to empower audiences to support movies with positive messages. MovietoMovement.com was an idea that came from his experience working on "Bella" as he looked for ways to get greater distribution for positive movies by building up a grass roots network of support.
"When I came to Washington, D.C., in the early 2000s, I told a friend that I dreamed of one day making movies that promoted a culture of life, and every day I get to go out and do just that," he said.
Jones was excited to see so many young people at the 2012 March for Life, noting that it's a movement whose energy is largely coming from the youth now.
"We have young people, who the vast majority are pro-life and they are courageous. I look at my generation and they are tepid. I was once the overzealous guy in the room, now I'm blown away by the energy and the vitality of this movement, largely coming from young people who make me look milquetoast in comparison," he said.
Jones also gave WND credit for turning him onto conservatism, when he happened across the site back in 1997.
"I was at the University of Hawaii, and I came across WND and was excited knowing that this was a revolution in new media," he said. "I didn't know where it would go, but I knew it was something special."