Pro-life 'Unplanned' movie wins K-LOVE fan award despite the Christian radio station's previous ban on ads for the film

Pro-life hit movie "Unplanned" won K-LOVE's film impact award over the weekend, indicating its popularity among the Christian radio station's listeners despite the network controversially banning ads for the film earlier this year.

What are the details?

"Unplanned" bested four other movies to take the prize during K-LOVE's 2019 Fan Awards at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday. While accepting the honor, star actress Ashley Bratcher said, "You know, as artists, our goal is to reach people, to really move them. And this movie — it may be called "Unplanned" — but nothing about it was unplanned.

"God ordained every step of the way," Bratcher continued to cheers from the audience. "And what you are seeing today, is what happens when you say 'yes' to God. Every single one of us said 'yes' to God, and now people's lives are being changed, and babies are literally being saved."

What's this about a ban?

Earlier this year, K-LOVE prohibited advertising for the movie on its network, claiming the film was too "political" and that the station avoids "promoting R-rated movies." The network did an about-face, however, and agreed to run spots for the film after pushback.

K-LOVE's resistance over allowing ads for the pro-life film prompted calls for a boycott against the station itself. But Bratcher took to Twitter in defense of the Christian network, according to Faithwire. The actress conceded that "abortion is an important issue to talk about and hearing the word on the radio isn't exactly the best way for a 5-year-old to ask what it is [in my humble opinion]."

She added, "I respect @KLOVERadio's commitment to family friendly content. Please reconsider your decision to boycott the station, I believe that we can all agree that the intention of their hearts is to bring people closer to Christ."

Anything else?

The short-lived advertising ban by K-LOVE isn't the only roadblock "Unplanned" ran into during its promotion. Other roadblocks included: Twitter suspended the movie's account during the film's opening weekend; "Unplanned" was categorized as "propaganda" by Google; the movie received an R-rating, which filmmakers disputed; major television networks refused to air its ads; and major music labels wouldn't allow its creators to license songs for its soundtrack.