New Ministry: And Then There Were None

One of my favorite things about the pro-life movement is the diversity with in it. Abortion is a massive topic that touches every area of life--health, law, industries, economy, religion, the list is endless. Because it is not any one topic, there are hundreds of pro-life organizations and ministries that work on fighting abortion in all different ways. Many accuse the pro-life movement of only caring about the fetuses but kicking the mothers' to the curb. I've seen that to be entirely untrue. Many, if not most pro-life groups focus on the mother. This can mean teaching the truth about abortion, urging women to choose life, helping them in practical ways through their pregnancy, helping them after the baby is born, helping them if they choose adoption, and supporting women who have had abortions.

However, there seems to be a new aspect of abortion that seems rather untouched by ministries. That is, until now.

Abby Johnson was a Planned Parenthood clinic director for 8 years. She began as a volunteer clinic escort, then worked her way up until she ran an abortion clinic. Then one day, she was helping an abortionist perform an abortion. The abortionist wanted to use an ultrasound in order to see what he was doing inside of the woman, and Abby was the one performing the ultrasound. She was shocked by what she saw--not a clump of tissue, but a baby, fighting to stay away from the harmful abortion instruments.

With the help of people praying outside of her clinic during the first 40 Days for Life campaign, she quit her job. Despite the financial difficulties, the lawsuits from Planned Parenthood, the embarrassment of leaving her friends and coworkers to begin working with the "enemy," she walked away.

She later wrote a book titled Unplanned that tells the entire story--from the Planned Parenthood booth at the volunteer fair in college to her praying with 40 Days for Life outside of her old clinic for the first time.

Now for the exciting news: God is using Abby's experience working for Planned Parenthood and dodging bullets trying to get out. In a month she is beginning a new pro-life ministry that tackles ground we've never touched before: a ministry to help clinic workers emotionally, spiritually, legally, and financially. They will provide legal protection from attorneys, funds necessary to quit their jobs and still provide for their families until they find a new job, emotional support, and spiritual counselors to help them on the road to healing.

If you say you're pro-life, you need to be pro-all life. Including the lives (both material and eternal) of clinic workers, abortionists, men and women who suffer from past abortions, and pro-choice advocates. As well as the young, the old, those of a different race than your own, the handicapped, the depressed, the orphans, and the widows. It's a tall order. I'm excited the horizons are expanding for the pro-life movement and a new group of people will be reached.