Earlier this summer, And Then There Were None, the ministry Abby Johnson began to reach out to abortion clinic workers, held a retreat for former workers who have escaped the clutches of the abortion industry.
ATTWN provides a number of resources for former workers, and clearly one of the services these workers need the most is help to repair the spiritual and emotional damage and consequences from having to assist with abortions.
Some of the workers at the retreat talked about how they have to piece together the body parts of aborted babies to ensure the abortion procedure is complete and no parts of the baby remain in the mother’s womb, which could cause her major medical complications.
From Abby’s report:
Bitter divorce, broken families, drug and alcohol abuse, and abortions in their own pasts were all major factors in these women’s decisions to initially begin working in the abortion industry. “I’m angry at my ex husband… the abuse,” said ‘Amy,’ who was employed by Planned Parenthood for many years. “I felt worthless and thought ‘what difference does it make where I work?'”
Also common among former clinic workers is how secretive they were (and still are) about working in the abortion industry-it’s something they’d rather keep from their friends and family. “I hate to admit that I ever worked at a place like Planned Parenthood,” said ‘Jamie,’ who had tears in her eyes.
“I still grieve the person that people think I am,” said ‘Molly.’ Even though she left the abortion industry many years ago, she still struggled with telling her adult children about it. “How can I tell them I was capable of that [working in a clinic]?”
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Going into the abortion industry, it is not unusual for a person to be told “Don’t worry, you won’t actually have to participate in the abortions.” This happened with most of the women who attended the retreat. Although they may have been initially be uncomfortable with the idea of working in an abortion clinic, this justification helped push that discomfort aside. “It wasn’t long before they were in the procedure rooms, directly assisting in the abortion process.” ‘Mary’ described the introductory process to helping in abortions as she recalled: “First, you’d just sit in a chair by the door when they happened. Then, they would have you stand by the door. Eventually you’d come closer, and then suddenly you’re at the edge of the bed actually helping with the procedure. They did it that way because most people don’t make it through the first one.”
A lot of horrific memories surfaced during the retreat – memories of babies being born alive and having to piece babies back together after procedures were particularly painful for the women to describe. “When you take that jar and dump it [after an abortion], and you see those arms and legs, there’s no denying it’s a baby,” said Mary. ‘Christine’ recalled a time that a baby was born alive into the toilet. “This baby was moving… I’m like, oh God, what do I do?” she said. “We were supposed to give CPR but never did… once that fetus dropped in the toilet, I knew I was done… I am guilty for not saving the child who drowned in the toilet. When I left, I didn’t look back.”
