“I’m from Texas, so howdy,” Abby Johnson said as she opened her hourlong program before more than 350 people – most young adults -- who packed into a meeting room on March 4 at the 700 Beta Banquet and Conference Center in Mayfield.
Johnson, a popular pro-life speaker, is the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in her native Texas. Her life was depicted in last year’s movie, “Unplanned.” This was the first time Theology on Tap Heights and Theology on Tap West conducted a joint program. The groups are geared at young adults in their 20s and 30s and offer them opportunities to hear inspiring, faith-based speakers and to enjoy fellowship.
As the mother of eight children, ages 13 years to 9 months – including 2-year-old twin daughters, Johnson spoke candidly about her experiences with the abortion industry, her own abortions, her conversion to Catholicism and her ongoing pro-life advocacy. She also laced the presentation with humor, including what it’s like when she and her husband bring their brood to Mass.
“I’m a natural family planning instructor. I hear it works great – when you use it,” she quipped, as the audience erupted in laughter.
Johnson turned serious as she discussed her 4-year-old son. “He was ‘gifted’ to us through open adoption,” she said, explaining that because of the way he was conceived, he could have been considered “one of the exceptions for abortion. He could have been ‘thrown away’ because some people feel his life isn’t worth as much. But God breathed life into him. He was fearfully and wonderfully made. And I’m so glad he and his birth mother are part of our family. What a miracle it is.”
Johnson said she grew up in a Christian home and was raised as a Baptist. Her parents were pro-life and taught her that she should abstain from sex until marriage. But they never discussed abortion with her, she said, because they thought there was no need to talk about it. “And I didn’t really understand,” she said.
While attending college, Johnson became one of many young women who faced an unplanned pregnancy. She was exposed to the pro-choice movement -- specifically Planned Parenthood – and was swayed by statements saying Planned Parenthood was the only place many women could go for certain services, including access to a safe abortion – statements she later learned were not true. She spent about eight years working for Planned Parenthood before resigning and becoming a pro-life advocate.
“There are 600 Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide and that number is reducing every year,” she said. In addition, there are “tens of thousands of other clinics nationwide offering comprehensive health care to women and children,” she added. “But if you speak the lie often enough, you believe it,” Johnson said.
She quoted statistics that indicate one in every four women has an abortion before age 45, with an estimated 2,400 abortions performed each day or about a million every year in the United States alone. Many of the abortions now are medical, Johnson said, meaning the women take the medication at home and generally endure the results alone. She described her two abortions in detail – one a surgical procedure at a clinic and one a medical abortion – and how she tried to dismiss what really was happening.
As someone who was raised pro-life, she said people wonder how she evolved into someone who had two abortions. “One compromise at a time,” Johnson explained.
“Women don’t understand the emotional ramifications of what they’ve done (abortion),” she said, including herself. When she had her first abortion – surgical – her then-boyfriend dropped her at the clinic and picked her up after the procedure. There was no one to talk to – just a brief “counseling” session and a short video. “I wonder what would have happened if there was someone there to talk to me?” she asked.
“If I had talked to my parents, I know they’d be disappointed that I didn’t follow ‘the path.’ But I think they’d be more disappointed that I didn’t stand up to defend the lives of two of their grandchildren,” she said.
As painful and traumatic as the surgical abortion was, Johnson said the medical procedure – which she had about a year later – was worse. “Girls are going through this alone. It’s not being feminist, it’s oppression, exploitation. The world is warped and confused. Women feel this is liberating but we will never be liberated as long as we oppress others and abortion is oppressing the rights of others,” she said.
The turning point for Johnson came when, as director of a Planned Parenthood facility, she was asked to assist during a surgical abortion by holding a piece of equipment. She watched as the unborn baby – about 13 weeks old and perfectly formed – reacted while the doctor performed the procedure. Johnson said she was shocked. Also, she said Planned Parenthood maintained that abortion was safe, legal and rare, so she was surprised when during a budget meeting her supervisor told her she needed to double the number of abortions at her clinic, indicating that abortion was how the organization made its money.
“I had been taught ‘abortion science,’” Johnson said. “It’s not a baby until the mother wants it; otherwise, it’s just tissue.” But that’s not what she saw when she assisted at the abortion. “The worst part is that I had the opportunity to intervene for this baby and I did nothing,” she recalled.
Johnson said she “eagerly believe the (Planned Parenthood) lie for eight years; I was not a victim. I’m standing here today as a testament to the power of conversion.”
She told the group that conversion is our job as Catholics. “That’s what Christ is all about. God loves a good conversion story,” she quipped. “We want to save babies, but it must be more than that.”
Johnson referred to Pope Francis’ call to accompany people on their journey, noting we all are expected to do just that; it’s our responsibility and our mission to spread the faith. “As Catholics, we have the fullness of truth and we should be sharing it. I’m a convert. I wanted the Eucharist so badly and couldn’t have it (until her conversion). People tend to take it for granted. We’re not spreading the faith like we should,” she said. “We should never grow weary of defending the Church, the truth. Being a Catholic is countercultural, but if it’s not hard, it’s not worth doing,” Johnson said.
God calls each of us to be an evangelizer. “At Mass, we say ‘one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church’ and we need to mean it – to take it out to our work places and our community,” Johnson said. “It’s time to defend the Church and get it back on track. We’re a people of hope, an alleluia people.”
There will be a free showing of “Unplanned,” the movie based on Johnson’s life, at 7 p.m. March 12 in Room 101 at St. Mary Church, 340 N. Main St., Hudson. The movie is rated “R” and is not considered suitable for children.
The next Theology on Tap Heights meeting is at 7 p.m. April 1 at Nighttown, 12387 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights. Theology on Tap West will meet at 7 pm. April 15 at Around the Corner Saloon & Café, 18616 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. Admission to each event is $5; cash bar.