Unplanned Chapter 13, 'Inside Out'

In this chapter Abby Johnson took one last interview as a Planned Parenthood employee before she left the clinic.  While Abby no longer supported the Planned Parenthood ideology, just prior to leaving her position as clinic director, she had a scheduled radio interview discussing the “anti-choice extremists” who participate in 40 Days for Life.  Abby admits the lies used in the talking points to discuss the 40 Days for Life pro-life advocates, but to herself she reflected on how kind, gentle, and prayerful the sidewalk counselors and prayer warriors were who stood outside of her clinic.  

A point that is made in this chapter is that the Planned Parenthood talking points, used to train its volunteers and staff, are filled with rhetoric to make pro-life advocates sound violent, over the top, and inconsiderate.  Pro-abortion advocates do all they can to shape the thought of men, women, and teenagers to hate pro-life advocates.  All the while pro-lifer supporters offer choices in a time of crisis, pray for those involved in abortion, and tell women they care and will help them.  Many people are influenced by these talking points since abortion is a political norm and according to most media -- pro-life advocates are violent.  Planned Parenthood has used their talking points well and will continues to.  But I ask you: where does the truth lie?

 
Pro-life advocates stand on the side of truth and real life:

• Most women suffer severe post abortion syndrome after abortion which include, depression, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, cutting, suicide, and difficulty in bonding with children born subsequent to the abortion procedure, among other symptoms.
• Science confirms that life begins at conception, verifies the development of the child, and contradicts the Planned Parenthood fallacy that the unborn baby is only ‘a blob of tissue’.
• Abortion is not good for women as is seen in the Abortion Breast Cancer (ABC) link.

But these aren’t the only truths.  Recent under cover investigations continue to show that Planned Parenthood aids sex trafficking, doesn’t report abuse of sexually abused minors, and avoids the legal system.  Yet, some in society and government still choose to look the other way and say that our tax dollars should fund abortion and Planned Parenthood even when our country is too broke to fund Planned Parenthood and their claims of providing health care for women, while simultaneously killing hundreds of thousands of young women in the womb every year.

The abusive pro-abortion rhetoric has injured the pro-life movement, yet they continue to vigilantly stand on the side of life.  When will we see truth be told and justice for the unborn?

Action Items
Be sure to contact Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood.
Tell Congress NO tax dollars for abortion.

Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,

Timmerie Millington

P.S.  Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m raising money for a pro-life organization called Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.  Please consider donating to my birthday wish, and doing so you will help Survivors in their life saving work.   

Order Abby’s book and join this discussion: http://www.unplannedthebook.com/

Checkout my reflectione from:

Chapter 1, ‘The Ultrasound’

Chapter 2, 'The Volunteer Fair'

Chapter 3, 'The Power of a Secret'

Chapter 4, 'The Cause'
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Chapter 6, '40 Days and 40 Nights' 
Chapter 7, 'The Code of Conduct'
Chapter 8, 'My Enemy, My Friend'

Chapter 9, 'Irreconcilable Difference'

Chapter 10, The Hurricane'

Chapter 11, 'The Boardroom' 

Chapter 12, 'A Holy Rush'

Unplanned Chapter 12, 'A Holy Rush'

I found reading this chapter ironic because throughout the day I had a number of conversations triggered by Bryan Kemper’s recent blog discussing whether or not hearts can be changed to understand abortion as wrong without Christ being the center of this conversation.  

After participating in and watching an ultrasound guided abortion (see my reflection of ‘The Ultrasound), Abby Johnson came to the realization that abortion is the taking of a human life, and that the unborn child involved in the abortion procedure is a victim to what she had considered only a procedure for many years.  Even though what triggered Abby to recognize the horror of abortion wasn't her faith but the visual witness of an abortion, she immediately incorporated her faith into the idea of abortion being wrong.  At church she confessed her involvement in abortion and prayed for other’s eyes to be opened to the truth of what abortion is because she saw that pushing abortion on women was not caring for them.

Now for some time Abby had been struggling with the thought of abortion as being wrong/sinful while praying and while at church, but she justified her involvement as caring for women; or sometimes brushed the notion aside.  After realizing that Planned Parenthood was in the market of making money by providing abortions, she saw that pushing abortions on pregnant women wasn’t caring for others.  In contrast, Abby began to see true care for women in the kind support and peaceful demeanor of sidewalk counselors from Coalition for Life.  Abby saw love in the nun who on her knees prayed and wept for the lives lost to abortion.  This love is what our faith is.  As Christian’s we are taught to love our neighbor.  So what is the answer to whether or not hearts can be changed to understand abortion as wrong without Christ being the center of this conversation? While I believe that hearts can be changed based on science and facts alone, we should stand for life and walk in faith just by loving and caring for one another, and we can most certainly share that this love comes from Christ.  Many hearts can still be changed by science, but more than likely someone is there to lovingly help present or guide you to the understanding and respecting the dignity of human life.

Now whether we boldly say we are Christians and pro-life or just base our pro-life stance on science we must treat others with an abundance of charitable love.  One instance where I can tell you that love and faith are overflowing in pro-life work is outside of an abortion clinic in San Diego.  Every day that abortions are performed at the Family Planning Associates off of Miramar Road, Helpers of God’s Precious Infants counsel men, women, and teenagers to protect the innocence of the unborn child and they share their love for Christ.  They pray with these people that are seeking services at Family Planning Associates, and most of the people they counsel walk away with a smile and cradling a rosary in their hands.  Every week I receive reports of at least two women who walked away from an appointment to take their child’s life.  These sidewalk counselors see the woman walking into the abortion clinic as people just like them and they treat them lovingly, with dignity and respect, not like horrible people for considering an abortion.  

True faith is love of neighbor and above all this is what we must express in all of our pro-life work.  Abby’s mother, father,  and husband always surrounded her with love, and never called her a bad person for her involvement in abortion but challenged the wrong of abortion.  Don’t turn someone away because they disagree with you, but allow for them to feel comfortable coming to you when they know they’re wrong or want to know more. 

"Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31

Order Abby’s book and join this discussion: http://www.unplannedthebook.com/

Checkout my reflectione from:

Chapter 1, ‘The Ultrasound’

Chapter 2, 'The Volunteer Fair'

Chapter 3, 'The Power of a Secret'

Chapter 4, 'The Cause'
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Chapter 6, '40 Days and 40 Nights' 
Chapter 7, 'The Code of Conduct'
Chapter 8, 'My Enemy, My Friend'

Chapter 9, 'Irreconcilable Difference'

Chapter 10, 'Unplanned Chapter 10, The Hurricane'

Chapter 11, 'The Boardroom'

Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,

Timmerie Millington

Unplanned Chapter 11, 'The Boardroom'

During this chapter the true roots of the pro-abortion movement are shown, not the mask of ‘a woman’s right to choose’ or concern for ‘women’s health’ which pro-abortion advocates claim as their mission.

During meetings regarding Planned Parenthood abortion clinic at the affiliate office, Abby Johnson and other clinic directors were told it was time to get revenue up since their Title XX funding was already used up for the year.  This eliminated discounted or even free birth control for lower income women.  Abby was appalled at the thought of women having to be pregnant with babies they couldn't afford.  Abby reflected on how different things became once revenue was the primary goal, versus providing services for women.

"Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race."

Planned Parenthood Founder, Margaret Sanger, Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.

During a meeting to discuss Abby's clinic's budget goals she was told she had to significantly increase her abortion client intake.  You might ask why?  Because abortions aren’t cheap and any abortion provider brings in high dollar revenue from abortions; the average abortion in the first trimester costs $300.  This abortion quota contradicted the rhetoric that initially lured Abby Johnson to Planned Parenthood.  The original trap that Planned Parenthood of reducing abortion numbers no longer seemed a goal amongst the organization; their demand for abortions was vital to their budget.  Abby did not like the idea of generating revenue by providing abortions as the new goal at her clinic, and insisted that abortion would not take priority over serving women.

Abby wrote in Unplanned about how Planned Parenthood was born to help women in need, especially with issues concerning issues of birth control and abortion. But this isn’t the truth.  If you take a few minutes to look back at, the founder of Planned Parenthood founder, Magaret Sanger’s personal views, you will begin to understand the true evil behind the pro-abortion movement and how rhetoric over the years has masked this horrific mission. 

I strongly recommend you read a few of these many quotes from Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."
Margaret Sanger's December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon's Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.

"Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need ... We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock."
Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review.

As an advocate of birth control I wish ... to point out that the unbalance between the birth rate of the 'unfit' and the 'fit,' admittedly the greatest present menace to civilization, can never be rectified by the inauguration of a cradle competition between these two classes. In this matter, the example of the inferior classes, the fertility of the feeble-minded, the mentally defective, the poverty-stricken classes, should not be held up for emulation....
On the contrary, the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective.
Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

Watch Maafa 21 which sheds light on the founding of Planned Parenthood and their eugenics agenda.

Order Abby’s book and join this discussion: http://www.unplannedthebook.com/

Checkout my reflectione from:

Chapter 1, ‘The Ultrasound’

Chapter 2, 'The Volunteer Fair'

Chapter 3, 'The Power of a Secret'

Chapter 4, 'The Cause'
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Chapter 6, '40 Days and 40 Nights' 
Chapter 7, 'The Code of Conduct'
Chapter 8, 'My Enemy, My Friend'

Chapter 9, 'Irreconcilable Difference'

Chapter 10, 'Unplanned Chapter 10, The Hurricane'

Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,

Timmerie Millington

Unplanned Chapter 10, 'The Hurricane'

This chapter was pretty short, but the two points that stand are:

1. Abortions are extremely profitable, especially later in the pregnancy.


2. Abby is horrified by late term abortions after the point of viability, around 21 weeks.


As I read further into this chapter, Planned Parenthood affiliate of Louisiana and Texas (totalling 12 clinics) were facing serious financial hardships in 2008 and they did all they could to cut costs.  Abby’s Planned Parenthood clinic ended up being the only profitable clinic in the affiliate due to the fact they were the only clinic that performed abortions.  An abortion procedure is extremely profitable and most abortions, earlier in the pregnancy, cost around $300-500. 

Site of Planned Parenthood Super Clinic

As the financial difficulties continued in 2008 leading into 2009, plans for the largest abortion clinic in the nation began (read more about this clinic).  This Houston abortion clinic would be seven stories tall and 78,000 square-feet.  An entire floor would be dedicated to abortion!  Plans to obtain a late term abortion license were put into place so that babies as late as 24 weeks in the womb could be aborted at this super clinic . . .  Abby explains her shock and uneasiness at the idea of late term abortions within her Planned Parenthood affiliate, especially knowing the beneficial income of each later term abortion, which range between $3,000 and $4,000 dollars.  Abby questioned if the new idea of performing late term abortions was to help make up for their financial loss.  


At this point, Abby’s pro-life view after age of viability and her desire to reduce the numbers of abortions was considerably shaken, and I think this was only the beginning of an even more serious struggle within Abby...

____________________________________________________

If you’re reading Unplanned, and following along in  my blog, I encourage you to leave a comment sharing your thoughts or lessons learned thus far into the book.  What has stood out to you?

Order Abby’s book and join this discussion: http://www.unplannedthebook.com/

Checkout my reflectione from:

Chapter 1, ‘The Ultrasound’

Chapter 2, 'The Volunteer Fair'

Chapter 3, 'The Power of a Secret'

Chapter 4, 'The Cause'
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Chapter 6, '40 Days and 40 Nights' 
Chapter 7, 'The Code of Conduct'
Chapter 8, 'My Enemy, My Friend'

Chapter 9, 'Irreconcilable Difference'

Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,

Timmerie Millington

Unplanned Chapter 9, 'Irreconcilable Difference'

For abortion or against abortion?   Abortion is okay at six weeks, but not at 22 weeks?  Throughout this chapter Abby shares about an inner and outer battle with her pro-abortion stance.  Whether aware at the time or not Abby would pick and choose when abortion was not okay, and when excuses were made to justify her pro-abortion position.

During a counseling session with a woman who was past 21 weeks along Abby was horrified that the woman insisted on having an abortion.  While she counseled the woman, Abby called the child in the womb a baby and not a fetus!  To her, the difference was that a child was at a viable age by about 21 week into a woman’s pregnancy.  Even though the abortion minded woman had the abortion procedure for the “viable” child in her womb explained to her, the woman didn’t care how it was done.  She just wanted the baby gone.  Reluctant and highly disturbed, Abby gave a referral to the woman for a clinic that performed late term abortions.  (I found it interesting that Abby used the same tactics as sidewalk counselors by talking about the horrific procedure and the development of the child in the womb.)

Later that evening Abby shared with her husband: "I just couldn't believe how casual she was about it!  I feel sick about it.  Just sick.  How can she say it's the same whether the pregnancy is six weeks along or twenty-three?  That's just ludicrous!" (Abby Johnson, Unplanned, 97)

After this comment Abby’s husband, Mark challenged her by asking if the child’s worthiness of life is any different because the pregnancy is further along?  With little response to Mark, Abby continued to question late term abortion and her inconsistency.  Abby later noted her friendship with notorious late term abortionist George Tiller and what a “kind” person he was, but she often wondered how he could justify performing late term abortions.  Abby’s battle within continued one day in church during a period of silence for a “confession of sin” where she struggled with the thought of whether or not to confess her involvement in abortion.

For me it’s incredible to see how people make judgment calls as whethere or not the action of abortion is okay or not depending on the babies age, size or development.  Abby is not the only person who feels this way.  I know some extremely pro-life people who believe that abortion is okay as long as it’s in the first trimester.  These are people whose beliefs we must challenge, because they are more likely to acknowledge the reality of the unborn child’s life, no matter how young or small.  They are also more apt to morn the loss of a child to a late term abortion than those who support all abortion.  Many people are unaware of the fact that abortion is legal through ALL 9 months of a woman’s pregnancy not just when people consider the child ‘a blob of tissue’ but moments up until the child is born.  We must educate and continue to challenge the pro-abortion position!

Order Abby’s book and join this discussion: http://www.unplannedthebook.com/

Checkout my reflectione from:

Chapter 1, ‘The Ultrasound’

Chapter 2, 'The Volunteer Fair'

Chapter 3, 'The Power of a Secret'

Chapter 4, 'The Cause'
Chapter 5, 'The Bond of Compassion'
Chapter 6, '40 Days and 40 Nights' 
Chapter 7, 'The Code of Conduct'
Chapter 8, 'My Enemy, My Friend'

Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,

Timmerie Millington

Unplanned Chapter 8, ‘My Enemy, My Friend’

At this point in the book Abby has taken over as the Planned Parenthood director for a clinic in Texas and the first few weeks turn out to be very eventful . . .

As the new director of Planned Parenthood Abby had two goals she really worked to accomplish:

1. Reduce the numbers of abortions by pushing contraception.
2. Create a strong relationship between Coalition for Life and her Planned Parenthood.

Because of Abby’s horrible experience with the chemical abortion through a method known as RU-486, she strongly advocated against the use of this form of abortion, especially after the six week point in a woman’s pregnancy. Out of fear, Abby trained her employees to provide informed consent for chemical abortion RU-486. When clients insisted on aborting by RU-486 she emphasised that employees tell patients that, “it might be bad -- really bad.” Many women called the clinic after taking the pills because there were experiencing severe bleeding and cramping, and thought they were dying. Abby was especially concerned for patients who returned for a surgical abortion after a failed or incomplete chemical abortion.

One day a young woman came into the clinic asking for advice regarding a chemical abortion. She had no money but obtained four abortion pills. Abby wanted her to be safe and offered a free chemical abortion, which the woman obtained. A week after the woman’s abortion she came back and was still pregnant! The woman was 7 ½ weeks along in her pregnancy with a healthy baby, this woman took it as a “sign from God” and chose to keep her baby!

As is common in the pro-life movement, Abby speaks of overly zealous pro-lifers who are not very gentle in their approach, very different from the conduct of Coalition for Life. These people would show up now and again outside of the Texas Planned Parenthood and cause problems. “Even as a believer in women’s right to choose, I hated to see such actions strengthen the cause of abortion, and that is precisely what they did.” Abby Johnson, Unplanned (88).

The good actions of many can be quickly over looked when there are such horrible actions by others: In one week, Abby once received three death threats, one at home, one at work, and one stuck to the windshield of her car. One even mentioned Abby’s daughter Grace by name and said it’s “too bad” she will no longer have a mom. Abby’s peaceful demeanor with Coalition for Life volunteers was compromised by these notes. Something that really struck out to me is when Abby looses her temper over the situation. After witnessing a clinic protester taking photographs of clinic patient's license plate numbers, Abby called out to the peaceful Coalition for Life volunteers, “He solidifies your opposition against you.” Abby Johnson, Unplanned (89).

One day Elizabeth, a Coalition for Life volunteer, left a beautiful bouquet of lilies for Abby with a car reading:

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with JOY. Psalm 126. 

I’m praying for you Abby!

This loving act from Abbey’s opposition touched Abby deeper than we can imagine! More is accomplished by treating others kindly than threatening them with hateful speech.

Standing In Defence of the Voiceless,

Timmerie Millington