Column: Stopping Abortion With Compassion And Prayer

This week, my Stephens Media column was about the event put on by several pro-life groups here in Arkansas with Abby Johnson.  As a former Planned Parenthood worker turned pro-life activist, Johnson’s story is amazing.  What perhaps struck me the most is her description of the different pro-life activists.  The ones who had the most impact were the ones who reached out to the ladies with compassion and with prayer, not with anger.

One lady who noticed the difference in this pro-life group was a rising star in the Planned Parenthood organization, Abby Johnson. An eight-year employee of Planned Parenthood, Johnson said she saw the impact of the peaceful, prayerful demonstrations.

When Johnson first began working for Planned Parenthood in College Station, Texas, she saw a different group of protesters outside the clinics, yelling at women walking in that they were “murderers” or “baby killers.” These demonstrations quickly turned her off to the pro-life movement. The effect was to drive the women seeking abortion away from the pro-life activists and into the clinics. Public anger was directed at the protesters, not the abortion clinics.

“When 40 Days for Life took over in 2004, that is when we saw a change. And that is when we actually started to see women making a different decision as well. We had never seen anyone change their mind at the fence. We had never had women come up and talk to the sidewalk counselors,” explained Johnson. “But when all of that radical extremism went away, and 40 Days for Life took over, all of a sudden — when it was just patience, compassion, mercy, love and kindness to the women going in — all of a sudden women were turning away from abortion and they were leaving.”

You can read more of my column at ArkansasNews.com. And for even more on Johnson’s story, check out her book, "Unplanned."