(Tim: This post is by Bill Mouser) At first, I thought I was seeing things. On an obscure blog, an entry was headlined “Planned Parenthood Director Leaves, Has Change of Heart.” Clicking on the link brought me to a page at the web site for KBTX, a television station in the Bryan/College Station area of Texas where Texas A&M has its campus. The headline was still ambiguous, but the story certainly was not: Abby Johnson, who worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years, the last two as the director of the Planned Parenthood abortuary, had resigned her post on October 8, because she found herself participating in an ultra-sound assisted abortion in the Planned Parenthood “clinic.”
The story has been growing some legs for a while. For several hours it was featured on the front page of the Drudge Report, which linked to a video report archived at Breitbart.com. Breitbart's headline was far less ambiguous: “Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns After Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure.” As of mid-afternoon on November 3, Google News had archived 65 versions of the story.
Two things are prominent in the story of Abby Johnson's change of heart...
First, Planned Parenthood is a business financed by abortions. In the KXTB report, “[Abby Johnson] said she thought the nonprofit was changing its business model because it took a hit in the rough economy. '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,' said Johnson. Johnson says she was told to focus on getting more abortions in the door, something she recently became convicted about.”
Fox News' reported that “without a doctor in residence, [Johnson] said, her clinic offered abortions only two days a month, but the doctor could perform 30 to 40 procedures on each day he was there. Johnson estimated that each abortion could net the branch about $350, adding up to more than $10,000 a month.”
Second, Abby Johnson's testimony of her conversion turns on the authentic humanity of the baby who is murdered. What sealed Abby Johnson's changed conviction was an unexpected participation in an ultra-sound assisted abortion. The abortuary was short on staff that day, and she was recruited to join a physician from Austin by holding an ultra-sound wand on the pregnant woman's belly to assist the physician in the abortion. Abby was able to watch what was happening on the ultrasound screen; and what she saw was a baby struggling to get away from the doctor's instruments which were tearing his body into small pieces.
As soon as the murder of the baby was completed, Abby left the clinic and went immediately across the street to the office of the Brazos Valley Coaltion for Life where she broke down in tears.
Planned Parenthood has filed temporary restraining orders against both Johnson and the Coalition for Life. A prepared statement released by Planned Parenthood says “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.” Note the ironic claim of victimhood by an organization which daily murders and disposes of hundreds of baby boys and girls. A hearing on the TRO is set for November 10
