Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson sent out a message today about a conversation she had with a clinic worker who called her. Johnson runs And Then There Were None, an organization that helps clinic workers and abortionists who leave the abortion business. And Then There Were None reaches out to those working at abortion clinics and helps them find new jobs and the means to support their families when they leave. And Then There Were None also runs healing retreats for former abortion providers.
Johnson describes the phone call she received:
The other day I got a very emotional phone call from a young woman who works at Planned Parenthood. She originally called because she had heard about our ministry and had some questions for me. The conversation started out a little tense. I could tell that she wanted to defend her work. I completely understood that…when you admit that the organization you work for is corrupt, you have to admit that you have been part of that corruption. Facing that reality is difficult…I remember.
Even though the young clinic worker tried to defend her work, it soon became apparent that she was suffering emotionally for what she was a part of:
As the conversation went on, I could hear her voice occasionally break. After about 30 minutes, I finally said, “You know, I know what it’s like to work at Planned Parenthood. You can be honest about what it is like for you.” At that, she immediately broke down. I sat silently and listened to her cry for 5 minutes. When she was able to calm down enough to talk, she simply said, “Why would they lie to me?” She went on to explain that when she went to interview with them, they had been very clear that she would NEVER be involved in abortion. However, they slowly began to move her around the clinic…first a receptionist, then an educator, then working in the exam room “just setting up instruments,” then working next to the abortionist, then finally to the POC (products of conception) lab where she has been trained to piece babies back together after they had been aborted.
Johnson has previously written about the products of conception room and piecing aborted babies together in more detail.
Johnson says:
Why did they lie? Because they have to. Because no one grows up wanting to work in the abortion industry. Because the truth of abortion is so vile, they have to hide it.
Johnson has often said that no one grows up wanting to work at an abortion clinic. Children dream of being many things when they grow up, but a worker who pieces together aborted baby parts is not one of them. Johnson concludes her email by saying:
But that’s why we are here. We are here to be a support to these workers as they take the courageous step to leave. We are here because we about them and their healing.
We can see from this story, from the clinic worker’s tears as she recounts the lies she was told that led her to work at Planned Parenthood, that abortion hurts those who perform them as well as those who have them. Abortion is wrong because it kills a baby, but also because it scars and hurts the mother , the father, the surviving siblings, and yes, the abortion workers themselves. Pro-lifers need to treat clinic workers with compassion when they leave the abortion industry and start the long and difficult journey to healing.
