A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a public lecture by Abby Johnson. Abby’s story is pretty remarkable, for a couple of reasons.
First, she was a committed proponent of abortion who changed her mind. Although this is unusual in itself, that bare statement of the facts does not tell the whole story. Abby was in fact the director of an abortion clinic who changed her mind and became pro-life as the result of a single experience: she sat in on an actual abortion and watched it live on a sonogram screen. This direct witness of the event convinced her that she could no longer continue her work, and so she quit her job the next day.
Also remarkably, after deciding to quit she went next door immediately and talked to the pro-life activists who had been protesting outside her clinic all along. She found that these people welcomed her with love and compassion.
This story would in itself be noteworthy, but there is a second stage to her journey that makes it all the more inspiring. Abby did not just turn away from abortion work. She also created a ministry to help other people like herself who want to leave this kind of work.
You can read about Abby at her webpage here. And you can learn about her ministry to abortion workers here.
The other encouraging thing about the event was that it was organized and carried out in a very professional manner by a group of undergraduate students. Here is their website.