This past Easter, my family and I watched “Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line""“, the sensational true story that made headlines across the nation. It’s the story of Abby Johnson, an only child, who was raised in a Christian home in Texas. When she attended Texas A&M, she started to be influenced by the more idealistic thinking that tends to be found in college.
She began dating a man, who was 8 years her senior, and had an unplanned pregnancy. He suggested taking her to Houston to obtain an abortion, a trip he’d made with a previous girlfriend, and she agreed. After a group “counseling” session and watching a video, she terminated her pregnancy.
She attended a large campus volunteer fair and was drawn to the hot pink display by Planned Parenthood. She admitted, after the face, that she was easily taken in by their rhetoric. Her mother said felt that she was “pulled in”. She actually volunteered for 1½ years before she even told her parents about it.
Her job was to escort women to their cars after their abortions. She observed 2 distinct groups of protesters outside the facility. One group was praying and silent. They handed out literature to the ladies as they entered the Planned Parenthood grounds. The other group held up signs with pictures of unborn babies, yelled “baby killer”, and had people dressed up in grim reaper costumes. Abby really felt like she was helping Planned Parenthood’s clients.
The Coalition for Life, the silent, praying group of protesters, noticed Abby and felt that she seemed different and approached her to let her know that they were praying for her.
She had a second abortion before she started working for Planned Parenthood. It was then that she finally told her parents about her job. She met and married Doug Johnson, who had a problem with Abby’s employer. She was able to justify all the good, such as well-women checks and birth control, and she overlooked the aborted babies. When Abby got pregnant, she was still advising women, who were seeking abortions, and Planned Parenthood felt that she would help confirm a woman’s choice to have an abortion. She was promoted to clinic director and her affiliate was the largest abortion clinic in the Western Hemisphere.
Abby tried to keep a good relationship with the Coalition for Life, unlike the previous directors. One of the volunteers explained to her that Planned Parenthood dehumanizes the unborn by calling them “fetus”, “embryo”, or just “the pregnancy”. The volunteer went on to explain that the early Americans dehumanized the Africans and it justified making them slaves. The Germans dehumanized the Jewish people and which justified their killing of millions of innocent people during the Holocaust (see Sol’s mother’s testimony – http://youtu.be/9MYcCDBSPmw). Planned Parenthood dehumanizes unborn babies and which allows women to seek abort these innocent children.
It was during this time that Planned Parenthood’s funding was decreasing and they began doing less for the uninsured. Abby started to see that Planned Parenthood was not the non-profit, helping agency that they claimed to be. Non-profit is a tax status, not a business status. Planned Parenthood started to do fewer well-women checks and started increasing their profit with more abortions, including late-term abortions. They wouldn’t allow Abby to counsel women after their abortions because they felt that it would show that a woman has problems with terminating her unborn baby’s life.
Abby was assisting a visiting doctor with an ultra-sound guided abortion of a 13-week baby. She watched the baby fight for its life and fight the instruments before it was suctioned out of the mom. Abby realized that she had fallen for the Planned Parenthood line that unborn babies didn’t have sensory development until 28 weeks. She had believed, lived, and spoken lies for so long!
She knew that she couldn’t work there anymore, but needed a job. She remembered a personal card that she had received from one the Coalition for Life volunteers along with a bouquet of flowers. The card simply said that she was praying for Abby. Abby ran to the Coalition for Life in an effort to leave Planned Parenthood in 2009. They helped her get some counseling with a former abortion doctor and his wife.
Abby never planned to be a figurehead in fighting abortion, but Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit and issued a press release stating that they were trying to protect their confidentiality. She believes they did it to frighten her into silence. It was only after Planned Parenthood fired the first shot that the started speaking out. Planned Parenthood lost their lawsuit in a directed verdict without Abby ever having to give testimony.
Abby is speaking to the public and learning to use her 8 years with Planned Parenthood for good. She acknowledges that it’s easy to be judgmental if you haven’t been there. We need to have compassion. She’s learned with God’s grace and mercy that she can’t give into her past. She has learned to forgive herself and accepted God’s forgiveness.
This is a great movie. I recommend this movie to all adults and teens in high school. My family and I were left speechless after watching. We were drawn to how easily lead Abby was after she left home for college, mostly because she wasn’t as grounded in her faith. We were all amazed that late-term abortions were allowed.
I invite you to watch the trailer and see for yourself.
There are pregnancy centers that have counseling available for women who have had abortions. There is forgiveness for these ladies. Get involved in your local Walk for Life, which happens in May every year. Become a protester, but remember which one God calls us to be. Those outspoken protesters turn me off! God calls us to love one another and yelling “baby killer” at a woman, who’s struggling with an unwanted pregnancy, is not loving them at all.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.