Abby Johnson: New Ministry Helps Abortion Clinic Workers Quit

Opinion   |   Abby Johnson   |   Nov 21, 2011   |   5:39PM   |   Washington, DC

“Pro-lifers are only out to harm you and your families.”

“Make sure you don’t take the same route home every day from work. A pro-lifer could be following you home.”

“The goal of the pro-life movement is to stop abortion at all costs…even blowing up our clinics.”

“Pro-lifers don’t care about people in the clinic. They are only out there to make themselves feel good.”

“All pro-lifers are the same. The ones that shoot doctors are the same ones that pray outside of your clinics.”

“Don’t go to the clinic alone. There could be a pro-lifer hiding out, waiting to attack you when no one is looking.”

“Pro-lifers HATE you. They would never want to help someone that works in the abortion industry.”

“If you don’t have one, you should probably get an alarm system on your house. You never know what those pro-lifers could do to you and your family.”

“Pro-lifers are hoping you will lose your job and you won’t have any money. They think you should be punished.”

“When pro-lifers pray for you, they are praying you go to hell.”

“You will never find another job outside of this clinic. No one wants to hire someone that has helped with abortion.”

These are the messages that I heard for 8 years. These are the messages that all clinic workers hear inside the abortion industry. Doesn’t make pro-lifers sound very inviting, does it? Now, is there some truth to some of these statements? Yes. Are some “pro-lifers” violent? Yes. Do some “pro-lifers” shoot doctors and clinic workers? Yes. Do some pro-lifers yell out hateful things to clinic workers and women going into the clinics? Yes. Do some pro-lifers harass clinic workers at home? Yes. Do some “pro-lifers” wish death and hell on clinic workers? Yes. But is that the majority? Of course not. And, I would of course argue that the people who engage in that type of behavior are not really “pro-life”…but that is another post.

Pro-lifers can certainly seem like a scary bunch of folks to people who work inside the clinics. Of course, the way they are presented to the clinic staff is intentional. So, would these workers every come to a pro-lifer and ask for help? Yes. That’s what I did. But why? They must seem so scary to them. Well, we have to hope that the pro-lifers they are going to did not fall into the pro-life stereotype that the abortion industry tries so hard to peg on all of us. Second, these workers have nowhere else to go. They have no one else they can trust. They find themselves having to trust the unknown. Scary.

When a clinic worker decides to leave the abortion industry, it is usually because they suddenly realize they have been living, believing and speaking a lie. They have been betrayed. They have betrayed others. It is a terrible feeling. I can’t think of any feeling that is worse. You thought you were the good guy. Now you realize you were the enemy all along. So, these workers now have to put their trust in a group of people who they have been taught, over and over again, was their enemy…pro-lifers. They take their first leap of faith and ask for help.

Hopefully, they find a group of pro-lifers that are ready and willing to help. Hopefully, this group of pro-lifers will get them in contact with people that can help them get a job, get them on the pathway to spiritual and emotional healing, or get them in contact with someone who can help. But what is the clinic workers biggest fear? MONEY. How will they support their family? How will they pay their mortgage, buy groceries, pay doctor bills, pay for utilities? These are REAL issues that must be addressed.

It is incredibly unfair for the pro-life movement to say things like, “just take a leap of faith and God will provide for you.” Really? Most hard core Christians I know wouldn’t take that sort of leap. And now you are asking someone who is probably new to the concept of God to take that kind of leap. Not fair. And quite honestly, it is kind of irresponsible. They do need to have a backup plan in place. You can’t just jump without a safety net. That would be foolish. If you had never walked a tightrope before, you would want a net underneath you, right? Well, these people have never (or have not in a long time) walked with God…they need a net under them.

Here’s where the problem comes. There is no net. There is actually nothing for clinic workers. No ministry. Nothing. We have hundreds of ministries for women who have had abortions, we have pregnancy centers, but nothing for those that have actually been inside the clinics themselves.

That is changing.

I have known since I left Planned Parenthood that I was supposed to reach out to clinic workers, I just didn’t know how. Now I do. I am starting a ministry for them. It is called, “And Then There Were None.” This ministry will focus on providing a safe place for clinic workers to land if they decide to leave their jobs. It will be a place to safely share, to heal and to find courage. And we are not simply waiting for them to come to us…we are pro-actively reaching out to them. These workers did not grow up wanting this for their lives. We can help change that.

Right now, I am in the early stages. We are working on our website. We are building our strategic plan. We are looking for donors. It is not always easy to convince people to give to a ministry where you may never meet the people you help. You may never know their names. You may never see them face to face. But your support is saving them…saving them from a road of darkness, of pure evil. Your support is bringing them into hope.

Planned Parenthood is terrified of former abortion workers. They are terrified of their own…the defectors. “Traitors,” they call us. We have betrayed women in the worst way, they say. But we know better. We have heard the truth, and we have followed a path that we didn’t even know we had the courage to walk. They call us names because they fear us…and they should. We become strong warriors for life. We have seen the ugliest side of this movement of “choice.” And, most of the time, we want to talk. And when we talk, people want to listen. Yes, abortion industry, be scared. Be scared of what we will expose. Be scared of the truth. The truth is what will bring you down.

I am asking all of you reading this to please pray for those still working in this evil industry. Pray that they will be touched by truth. Pray that they will find a place to turn and that they will be embraced by the love of Christ. Pray that they find the peace and joy that only He can bring.