Abby Johnson - Beauty from Ashes
After walking out of her abortion clinic for the last time in 2009, Abby Johnson had no idea what the future would hold. She knew she could never enable another abortion and she had been "taken in" by Pro-Lifers at the local Coalition for Life, but, despite those small favors, she couldn't help but think that there was no possibility of redemption for a woman who had wholeheartedly sold abortion for years. Try as she might, Abby couldn't find any clear steps towards healing and forgiveness. Months later, there were still no clear answers, but Abby had begun telling her story at Pro-Life conventions in the hope that her testimony would bring healing to other women. It was at one of these conventions, Unidos por la Vida (United for Life) in Los Angeles, while walking through a back hallway, that Abby first met Annette.
As a current employee of Planned Parenthood, Annette had been reluctant to attend the convention even when her boyfriend insisted for the sake of their relationship. But, once there, Abby's story had so moved Annette that she had desperately sought her out afterwards. Barred from reaching Abby directly, Annette shouted Abby's name, desperately trying to get her attention. She didn't want to work for Planned Parenthood anymore and knew she couldn't stay but she had no idea how to leave. When Abby came over and reached through the gate to give Annette the warmest hug she had ever experienced, she knew she had just found her lifeline.
After the convention, Abby badly wanted to help Annette leave her situation, but, after hours of searching the web and calling every resource she knew, Abby couldn't find one ministry that offered help for abortion workers who wanted to leave the industry. In fact, many organizations specifically condemned abortionists for their actions, refusing to show them any compassion. This reality cut Abby to the quick, not only because it left truly repentant abortionists no options (though their awakening should have been a joyous occasion), but also because it revealed a horrible double standard in the Pro-Life movement. Pro-Lifers had whole-heartedly accepted Abby when she had sought an escape and she was now thought of as a powerful voice in the fight for life, but only a few months prior she had been no different than Annette, trapped in a tense situation with no one reaching out to help her. Would the Pro-Life movement deny all the powerful testimonies that could result from mercy-driven repentance because it had forgotten simple truths like those found in Micah 6:8? Was Abby the only exception?
Then it struck her. If the Pro-Life movement was to see all the good that could come from individuals leaving the abortion industry, it needed to know that workers were actually seeking an escape. To do that, workers needed support so they could feel empowered to leave and Abby, as the poster child for abortion repentance, could provide that support. In November 2011, And Then There Were None, a non-profit organization specifically geared towards abortion workers with the goal of helping them leave the industry, was born. The organization's on-going ministry has shown mercy to hundreds. Its outreach has proved to the Pro-Life movement that redemption is possible for anyone and that mercy should be a key aspect of the fight for life. And, more than anything else, And Then There Were None has nurtured Abby's own healing, proving to her that she was redeemed for a reason.
On the morning of May 4, 2019, Abby found herself reflecting on the unprecedented course her life had taken over the past ten years and the Lord's mercy that had permeated every moment of that time. Reflecting on her past was not new to Abby. She had parsed through it many times since leaving Planned Parenthood in 2009, but on this specific day the blessings of her transformed life were culminating in a very special way. By all rights, she shouldn't be where she was on that morning. She shouldn't have experienced the grace and forgiveness that had so totally overwhelmed her life. But, here she was, sitting in the back of a mobile ultrasound van in Times Square, New York, ready to proclaim the Pro-Life message in the most profound way.
The sound of a heartbeat, steady and strong, reverberated through every corner of Times Square. The third trimester ultrasound of Abby's seventh child was being witnessed by millions, Pro-Life and Pro-Abortion alike, as a striking testimony to the humanity of the preborn. And all Abby Johnson could do was cry tears of joy. For her child, for everyone who could hear his message, and for herself. The woman who had once carelessly sentenced thousands of children to death was now the vessel through which their humanity was being proclaimed. The Lord had truly raised Abby out of the ashes of her own choices and was working through her in a spectacular way.
Photo Credit: Liberty University
No comments:
Post a Comment