Christian Headlines Blog Christian Blog and Commentary

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!

Former Abortionist: ‘We Have to Use Compassion’ When Dealing with Abortion Workers

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

    More
  • Updated Jan 25, 2017

A former Planned Parenthood employee who is now heavily involved in the pro-life movement recently spoke with Christianity Today about abortion, pro-life efforts, and the Women’s March.

Abby Johnson worked at Planned Parenthood for eight years before she was convicted that abortion was wrong.

“I ended up leaving after witnessing a live, ultrasound-guided abortion procedure where I saw a baby at 13 weeks gestation fight and struggle for his life,” Johnson said. “I knew there was humanity in the womb and that I had to work to defend that life.”

Johnson said she didn’t anticipate sharing her story with the world, but after Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit against her to prevent her from revealing confidential information from her time working there, her story became public.

“[T]he lawsuit was picked up by the national media, and that’s how this project got started,” said Johnson, who was by this time working with the Coalition for Life, a nonprofit pro-life organization.

Johnson is passionate about the pro-life cause, and she is also passionate about women’s rights. She attended the Women’s March on Washington this past weekend.

“Any time there is a significant abortion rights presence, I think it’s important to have a pro-life presence so that diversity of thought is represented. It’s important that our voices are heard and that we’re willing to work together on issues that impact women,” responded Johnson, when asked why she chose to attend the march when other pro-life women boycotted it.

“At the march, I had a sign that said ‘Life empowers women’ with our abortionworker.com website,” she continued. “I was pleasantly surprised by the number of women who came up to us and quietly said, ‘I agree with you. I’m pro-life. Thanks for being here.’ It was sad that they had to be quiet—they felt silenced by the march organizers. We also had women come up and say, ‘I don’t agree with you, but I’m so glad that you’re here representing your view.’"

Johnson also said that abortion workers and advocates need to be shown compassion.

“When I worked at Planned Parenthood, I heard a statistic that about 70 percent of people who work inside of Planned Parenthood clinics have had abortions themselves. So we’re dealing with seriously wounded people….so we have to use compassion. That’s the only thing that changes hearts. Telling them, ‘You’re a baby killer’ or ‘You’re a murderer’ doesn’t address the hurt in their heart….We’ve accused the abortion industry of dehumanizing the unborn, but, in fact, we have dehumanized the people that work in the abortion industry. And so our focus as an organization is bringing the humanity back not only to the unborn child but to these workers who have been caught in that system of dehumanization,” she said.

To read more from Johnson’s interview with CT, click here.

 

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: January 25, 2017