Video Friday Five: Former Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson

1. What drew you to volunteer with, and later be employed by, Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion philosophy?
 
The first thing was that they kept talking about how Planned Parenthood's goal was preventing unintended pregnancy and, so therefore, preventing abortion. That was something that I believed in. I believe that abortion shouldn't be happening. They told me that they believed abortion should be rare and I got behind that; also them talking about how they wanted to help women and that was their goal to help women. And that was ultimately what drew me there.
 
2. What was the key experience for you inside the abortion clinic that motivated you to quit your job and become pro-life?
 
I saw an ultrasound-guided abortion procedure. And, I saw on the ultrasound a baby fighting for its life during the abortion procedure. And, when I saw that I realized that everything I had been told by Planned Parenthood and by the pro-choice movement – it's not a baby and it's just a mass of cells and it's not living – was not true.
 
3. During the time you worked at Planned Parenthood, you went to church and had a Christian faith.  How did you reconcile your abortion industry job with your Christian faith?
 
It was a struggle for me to be a Christian and to work at Planned Parenthood, but I was able to reconcile it by telling myself that I was doing God's work by helping these women; and that this is what God wanted me to do, because I was helping them so that they wouldn't have to go to these places that were unsafe. And I would say, "How could you be a Christian and not be pro-choice?" It was just total disregard for the woman's pregnancy and for the baby.
 
4. Looking back, what is your biggest regret in your time with Planned Parenthood?
 
A: I think one of the greatest regrets for me is some of the tactics I used to coerce women into having abortions; some of the things I didn't even realize I was doing to help persuade women into having abortions; the things I said to my friends when they would come to me and confide in me that they had an abortion. They were struggling with that issue. I would just blow them off and tell them that they were going to be fine. I didn't want to recognize that women did struggle after having an abortion and that those feelings they were having were real.
 
5. What's your greatest hope as you look forward now?
 
My greatest hope is that people will spring into action, that they will see that their efforts in the pro-life movement do bear fruit and that I would be a reminder to people that going out there and being in front of these clinics does work. It's not enough just to say that we're pro-life, but we actually have to put action behind those words.
 
MORE INFORMATION
You can also catch Abby Johnson on the Focus on the Family daily radio broadcast, "Leaving Planned Parenthood," with Jim Daly and John Fuller, scheduled to air on Jan. 21-22.