The director of a Planned Parenthood outlet in south-east Texas, US, has resigned from her position after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. She has now changed her mind and joined a pro-life group.
Abby Johnson, 29, the director of Planned Parenthood, a leading provider of surgical abortions in the US, said she was ‘extremely pro-choice’ when she was working at the clinic. But when she saw the internal workings of the abortion procedure for the first time on an ultrasound monitor she instantaneously found a definite and real conversion in her heart. She said in a television interview:
‘I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me, and I thought that’s it. I feel so pure in heart. I don’t have this guilt, I don’t have this burden on me anymore, that’s how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion.’
(Click here to watch the interview)
She added that Planned Parenthood do not make their money on promoting contraception or family planning, as they say, but directly through abortion.
‘It seemed like maybe that's not what a lot of people were believing any more because that's not where the money was. The money wasn’t in family planning, the money wasn't in prevention, the money was in abortion and so I had a problem with that,’ Ms Johnson said.
Ms Johnson said she became disillusioned with her job after her bosses pressured her for months to increase profits by performing more and more abortions, which cost patients between $505 and $695.
‘Every meeting that we had was, ‘We don't have enough money, we don't have enough money — we've got to keep these abortions coming.’ It's a very lucrative business and that's why they want to increase numbers,’ she told Fox News.
(See the Fox News report)
After her resignation, Ms Johnson has joined the Coalition For Life, a community based Christian pro-life organisation made up of over 60 churches and thousands of individuals who are working to end abortion in the Brazos Valley, US, peacefully and prayerfully. Volunteers from the organisation regularly pray outside the offices of Planned Parenthood.
Shawn Carney, the director of the Coalition for Life, said:
‘It's truly been a testament to the power of prayer and the courage of Abby to leave a job she felt she could no longer do in good conscience. It has been a joy for all of our volunteers who have prayed outside of the clinic for the conversion of the clinic workers to witness that conversion actually happens.’
A spokesman for Planned Parenthood said:
‘We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff. However, in this instance it is absolutely necessary.’
The temporary restraining order says Planned Parenthood would be harmed by disclosure of information.
A court hearing about the order took place today.
Planned Parenthood is the US affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and one of its larger members. In 1997, it performed about 160,000 abortions and received approximately $160 million in total US taxpayer funding from various levels of government. Both the number of abortions and the amount of money received from the US government, supposedly for family planning to reduce abortions, has doubled since then.
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