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- A new documentary filmexamining abortion in America

is set to air for a limitedtime, beginning this Thursday.

- The "Divided Hearts of America"stars Super Bowl champion,

Benjamin Watson, andBenjamin joins us now.

Ben, good to see you.

Thank you for being with us today.

- Thank you.Thanks for having me.

- So you not only star in this film, Ben,

you and your wife actuallyalso executive produced it.

What made you two decide to get involved?

- Well, this is an issuethat's very important to us

personally, but alsowe feel that this is a

justice issue, like somany others and in light

of so many different lawsthat have been ramping up

on the conservative and liberalside in different states

across this country, Iwanted to kind of figure out

how we got here in this issue of abortion;

what happens if we don't change course;

and really, I wantedto hear from the lives

that are affected, and alsohear from multiple sides.

Because so much of the time,our discourse about this topic

is much less than civil andit can actually be insulting.

And I wanted to promotean understanding of people

from different sides of theaisle, as we try to find

some sort of commonground and understanding

without giving up obviously,our certain convictions.

- It certainly is a divisive topic.

Your documentary tacklesthe controversial issue

of abortion through interviewswith more than 30 leaders

with differing views.

Who all did you talk to?

- Several people.

So we set out to talkto people in politics,

so we spoke to some senators.

Senator Tim Scott was one of them.

We spoke to people in academia.

A guy named Carter Snead,that's in Ethics at Notre Dame

was one of our more notable interviews.

And we also spoke to peoplewho have survived abortions,

but also thought it wasimportant to speak to those

who are pro-choice.

My goal was really to givean open, honest dialogue

about the history ofabortion, where we stand now,

what are people thinking about it.

So we can't have that withouthaving some dissenting

or other voices.

It's important to understandthat and so, again,

we went to four different localities.

We went to Boston, Massachusetts, Chicago;

we were in New Orleans, wewere in Washington, D.C.,

as I mentioned before, on Capitol Hill.

Really spanning the country,when it comes to this

most important topic of our day.

- There are so many strongopinions on this topic.

Talk about, Ben, why the issueof abortion is so divisive

in America, throughout history,but really I mean, today.

- Yeah, well if you look backover the last 30 years or so

it's been pretty much 50/50.

What I found is that thereare a lot of complexities

within both sides, thataren't able to be exposed,

because we have to picka side in our country.

We have to pick a side.

There's no complacency, there's no nuance.

And so, it's so importantthough, getting to your question,

because this is a life and death issue.

Not only life and deathof pre-born children,

but life and death of mothers,

life and death of familystructures, of fathers.

Life and death of generationsthat come from individuals

who may not be given a chance to live.

There's so many waysto look at this thing.

But it strikes at theheart of us, as Americans,

because our tenets are life, liberty

and the pursuit of happiness;

and so anything that undermines that

is important for us to address.

- Ben, you said that one ofthe goals in producing this

was for open, honest dialogue.

I wanna know, though,what do you want viewers

to take away after watching this film?

- Well, if you watch the film,I think people are gonna cry.

I think they're gonna beangry, they're gonna be happy,

they're gonna be emotional.

They're gonna be convicted,but also encouraged.

I want people to walk away from the film

being introspective, nomatter where they fall

on the spectrum.

From the harshest pro-lifeto the harshest pro-choice.

No matter where theyfall, I want people to be

introspective on how theycan love their fellow man,

their fellow woman more perfectly.

And I want them to look at this issue,

maybe in a different lensthan they looked at it before.

- All right, "Divided Heartsof America" will stream

on SalemNOW, starting Thursday

and be accessible for eight weeks.

Benjamin Watson, it's good to have you

and we can't wait to see it.

Thank you for joining us today.

- Thank you.Thank you for having me.