The video by popular family channel The LaBrant Fam has generated over 3.1 million views since it was posted on April 9.
Just ten days later, it already sits at the 15th most viewed out of hundreds of thousands of videos upon searching the term “abortion,” beaten only by content posted at least a year ago.
Family influencers are a controversial social media niche, having long spurred accusations of parents exploiting their children for internet fame. At over 13 million YouTube subscribers, the LaBrant family has earned its fair share of controversy well before the anti-abortion video.
The family of social media stars comprises Cole LaBrant—who rose to fame thanks to now-defunct video-sharing app Vine—his wife Savannah and their three young children.
The LaBrants’ YouTube channel typically features content that is on par with most family influencers, such as sharing personal life updates, participating in viral trends, and pulling pranks on each other.
Critics of the family’s content zeroed in on the extent to which their children are involved, such as the decision to create individual Instagram profiles for each kid, as well as a video titled “She got diagnosed with cancer” that initially led social media users to believe one of the LaBrant children was afflicted with the illness (she was not.)
Cole and Savannah LaBrant had also been open about their Christian faith, at times controversially so. In several tweets, Cole LaBrant has opposed abortion in the case of rape, at one point stating he would “strongly encourage” his own daughter not to abort a baby conceived from assault.
However, their 38-minute video titled “Abortion. (documentary)” took a sharper ideological turn.
The LaBrants’ video—which was posted with comments turned off—opens by comparing the number of people killed in the Holocaust, as well as the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides, to the alleged number of abortions that took place in the U.S.
“So as we’ve been filming this documentary, we’ve been asked by our friends, by family, by mentors, why are we making this?” Cole LaBrant said in the video. “There’s so much at risk, why are we even making this, why are we adding flames to an already crazy burning fire?”
He continued: “And the answer is just if one baby is safe from this, if one mom chooses to keep her baby from it, then it’s all worth it. This documentary by no means is trying to illegalize abortion, after this documentary you’re still gonna have the choice.
“But I know there’s gonna be one mom watching, maybe five, maybe 10, maybe 100, maybe a thousand, we have no idea the ripple effects.”
Newsweek has contacted the LaBrant family.
In the video, the couple interviews sources that include two anti-abortion medical professionals and several women who contemplated terminating their pregnancies (but ultimately decided against it).
While the LaBrants’ target audience is families with children, their latest video tackled abortion with graphic descriptions and imagery. Three photos depicted dead fetuses in the aftermath of miscarriages
A YouTube spokesperson told Newsweek: “We’re committed to removing any content that violates our Community Guidelines, and we vigorously enforce our policies prohibiting graphic content through a combination of machine learning and human review.”
The LaBrants’ video heavily promotes Embrace Grace, a ministry aimed at encouraging single women dealing with unplanned pregnancies to keep their babies. The organization’s founder Amy Ford was also interviewed.
Ford has authored several anti-abortion books. In one book titled Help Her Be Brave, she listed ways in which readers can carry out the movement’s mission.
These include scoping out pregnant women without wedding rings to “engage in an intentional and Holy Spirit-led conversation,” or looking into Facebook buy/sell groups for users appearing to be single women asking for lightly used baby items.
Ford also promoted a program that trains volunteers to approach women entering clinics that offer abortion services.
The LaBrants’ video also promotes Live Action, an anti-abortion group that says its “hard-hitting investigations expose the lies, abuses, and coverups of the abortion industry.”
After sharing their video, the LaBrants were blasted on social media for creating “propaganda” and comparing abortion to historical atrocities. Female social media users also took issue with Cole LaBrant weighing in on women’s reproductive choices as a man.
“Is the LaBrant family ‘pro life’ or pro exploiting your children to millions of people for millions of dollars?!” one user wrote on Twitter.
“The LaBrant Family can f*** all the way off,” another tweeted, accusing the family of “exploiting their children” and “making false cancer claims for clickbait” before concluding: “Some people deserve to be cancelled.”
In her reaction to the LaBrants’ video, TikToker @saralmack said the family is “F-ing crazy.”
“I started to watch the video and I had to turn it off within 10 minutes because it’s basically Cole mansplaining to the world why abortion is bad, why you shouldn’t have an abortion like he can get pregnant and have a baby himself,” she said.
“I really love the part when they say ‘Oh, we wouldn’t know what we’d do without our children,’” said TikTok user @alyssastephanie. “Yeah, you wouldn’t be living your million dollar lifestyle exploiting your children.”
The LaBrants’ video began with a disclaimer that “All ad revenue made from this video will be directly donated to local pregnancy centers.” (Ad revenue is not the only income a YouTube creator can earn, as commercial sponsorships are also commonplace.)
However, according to the National Catholic Register, the LaBrants’ video was demonetized by YouTube. Conservative news outlet The Daily Wire reported Instagram took down the video when the LaBrants shared it on the platform.
The Instagram removal dismayed GOP Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who tweeted: “There was no good reason to ban this. You can open up Instagram and be flooded with raunchy pictures from every IG ‘model’ on earth, but when someone posts about the horrors of abortion they’re banned?”
Since the backlash, Cole and Savannah LaBrant made their Twitter accounts private.
