Chapter six off Abby Johnson’s book Unplanned is filled with many occurrences that make a large impact upon her and are also extremely sad: the very first 40 Days for Life campaign, Abby’s experience with religion, dealing with a rape victim, and finding out she is pregnant for the third time.
It’s wonderful to read about the beginning of the now national 40 Days for Life grass-root prayer vigils, and how the very first campaign impacted Abby Johnson and the others who worked at Planned Parenthood. Abby says that 40 days of constant prayer and humble outreach surrounding the abortion clinic was “killing us with kindness” and caused severe discomfort within the Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas. Can you imagine being surrounded for 40 days by hundreds of people that disagree with you on something but reach out in sincere kindness the entire time? I have to say that from my experience in running a 40 Days for Life prayer vigil, it is incredible to see the abundance of love from every singe person involved; 40 Days for Life prayer vigil participants touched my heart. I can’t even imagine what it did to those who were on the other side of the fence.
One of the numerous things that really stood out to me in this chapter was that Abby recognized during the very first 40 Days for Life campaign that the presence of God was on the pro-life side. Later in the chapter, there are a few situations related to religion that had an effect on Abby Johnson’s roll at Planned Parenthood. First, Abby talks about two Catholic coworkers at Planned Parenthood having mentioned hearing a pro-life homily at mass; the women felt that they were doing “God’s work” except when it came to abortion, and how they tried to avoid abortion while at Planned Parenthood. Later during the chapter Abby and her fiance Doug decide to attend church and when they ask to become members of the church, the pastor tells them they cannot join because Abby works at Planned Parenthood where abortions are performed. Abby is heart broken over this encounter and speaks later about fearing she may go to hell because of her job. It really shocks me sometimes to see that some of the people involved in the abortion industry truly believe they’re doing something that is good, but also doubt and feel uncomfortable when directly involved with abortion. This makes me believe strongly in the necessity of setting an example for others by how we behave and showing the pro-life movement as the side of the fence that truly is caring for women. The many people that make up the pro-life movement do not want women to feel damaged or guilty because of decisions they make in crisis, loneliness, or ignorance.
A common argument that comes up when dealing with abortion is: What about in cases of rape, is it okay to have an abortion? After dealing with a rape victim, Abby sums up one of the best reasons for a rape victim to choose to give their unborn child life. Of Course the primary reason would be that aborting the child would end an innocent life; however after dealing with the rape victim Abby experiences first hand that when choosing abortion for her unborn child, the rape victim is devastated by having created a second victim of the rape.
“I was the victim. I completely understand that I carry no blame for the rape. But” she began weeping, “I keep having nightmares about the abortion. I feel so much guilt. I know I deliberately took the life of my child.” -- Unnamed woman Abby Johnson quotes in Unplanned
The last event I would like to point out is when Abby finds out that she is pregnant for the third time, this time with her new husband. She experiences mocking comments by her coworkers at Planned Parenthood when they hear her news. These comments are filled with suggestions of “taking care” of the pregnancy if Abby doesn’t like the outcome of her pregnancy test! Abby does not find this funny and the comments disturb her, especially thinking of the secret of her two previous abortions. How can we, as a society, accept comments such as these? Abortion is a norm in our society today; we must confront this and not allow abortion to be continuously mocked or looked at as not a big deal.
Chapter 4, 'The Cause'
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,
One of the numerous things that really stood out to me in this chapter was that Abby recognized during the very first 40 Days for Life campaign that the presence of God was on the pro-life side. Later in the chapter, there are a few situations related to religion that had an effect on Abby Johnson’s roll at Planned Parenthood. First, Abby talks about two Catholic coworkers at Planned Parenthood having mentioned hearing a pro-life homily at mass; the women felt that they were doing “God’s work” except when it came to abortion, and how they tried to avoid abortion while at Planned Parenthood. Later during the chapter Abby and her fiance Doug decide to attend church and when they ask to become members of the church, the pastor tells them they cannot join because Abby works at Planned Parenthood where abortions are performed. Abby is heart broken over this encounter and speaks later about fearing she may go to hell because of her job. It really shocks me sometimes to see that some of the people involved in the abortion industry truly believe they’re doing something that is good, but also doubt and feel uncomfortable when directly involved with abortion. This makes me believe strongly in the necessity of setting an example for others by how we behave and showing the pro-life movement as the side of the fence that truly is caring for women. The many people that make up the pro-life movement do not want women to feel damaged or guilty because of decisions they make in crisis, loneliness, or ignorance.
A common argument that comes up when dealing with abortion is: What about in cases of rape, is it okay to have an abortion? After dealing with a rape victim, Abby sums up one of the best reasons for a rape victim to choose to give their unborn child life. Of Course the primary reason would be that aborting the child would end an innocent life; however after dealing with the rape victim Abby experiences first hand that when choosing abortion for her unborn child, the rape victim is devastated by having created a second victim of the rape.
“I was the victim. I completely understand that I carry no blame for the rape. But” she began weeping, “I keep having nightmares about the abortion. I feel so much guilt. I know I deliberately took the life of my child.” -- Unnamed woman Abby Johnson quotes in Unplanned
Order Abby’s book and join this discussion: www.UnplannedTheBook.com
Checkout my reflection from:
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,
Timmerie Millington
I admire your stance on Life and that's precisely one of the things that break my heart with this nation, the indifference or lack of empathy towards the subject. Many people think of this like "it's not a big deal." It is, so we need to continue educating people on the subject.
ReplyDeleteJade, Thank you for your comment, I really appreciate your support. It only takes one person to influence many other and we can take back the culture by standing up and saying abortion is a big deal! Examples of this can be seen in recent work by:
ReplyDeleteLive Action exposing Planned Parenthood's involvement in sex trafficking:http://www.timmerie.com/2011/02/planned-parenthood-exposed.html
Survivors and Operation Rescue's investigation into 12 Texas Abortion Clinics: http://www.timmerie.com/2011/03/breaking-news-widespread-abortion.html