By Arwen Mosher
Abby Johnson’s introduction to her new book, unPlanned, is just two pages. I knew after one page that the book was going to be unique.
Of course, Johnson’s story is an unusual one. She’s a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who walked out of her job and joined the Coalition for Life across the street. She now does sidewalk counselling at the very clinic she used to run.
I bought Johnson’s book because I was drawn to her unusual life story. But it could have been a very different sort of book, just another set of arguments for why the pro-life position is correct. I could have read it and learned nothing.
Instead, the book – which I found so compelling that I finished its 259 pages in a mere four hours – is something very special. I think it has the potential to be a strong humanising force in the debate about abortion.
From the introduction:
“To this day, I have friends on both sides of this polarising debate. We all long for a story that shows that ‘our’ side is right and good, and ‘their’ side is wrong and bad, don’t we? But I testify that there is good and right and wrong on both sides of the fence. And even more shocking – we have far more in common with the ‘other’ side than we might imagine.
“But don’t slam this book shut because of what I’ve just said. Read it for that very reason. Read it to understand the surprising hopes and motivations on the ‘other’ side. I was loved from one side onto the other. My hope is that many more thousands will be loved into truth as well. Maybe you will be the one loving someone on the other side of the fence.”
In the book, Ms Johnson tells her story from the beginning of her involvement with Planned Parenthood when she was a college student recruited to volunteer. She gives her history mostly chronologically, with honest insight into her motivations. She shares her grief over the part she played in Planned Parenthood’s victimisation of unborn babies and their mothers. She makes no attempt to defend her actions.
But nevertheless, as I read, I found myself identifying with her. Although I’ve never been in her position, I could understand how a person with good intentions might end up in Johnson’s situation. I pictured myself in her shoes, and as I read I found myself recognising that only the grace of God has saved me from going down a similar road myself.
unPlanned is the story of that grace in Abby Johnson’s life. It’s the story of how He knocked at the door of her heart until she found the truth, and of all the beauty and freedom that truth has brought her. It’s not always easy to read – in fact, some parts are quite painful – but it’s worth it.
This is what I found most remarkable about the book: by the end of it, I was more committed than ever to the pro-life cause of saving mothers and babies from abortion. Johnson never wavers from telling the truth about the reality of abortion and its evils. But at the same time, I did come to feel – as she promised in the introduction – more understanding of those on the “other” side. It’s natural to argue with those with whom we disagree, but it is so much more beautiful and effective to “love them into truth.”
I feel certain that unPlanned will help pro-lifers do that. Praise God for Abby Johnson, and praise God for her book!
- Faith and Family
unPLANNED is in stock and available now from The Record Bookshop
Contact Bibiana on (08) 9220 5900 or see advertisement in this edition for further details.