“It was pretty common for a woman to be lying on the abortion table while holding a rosary…”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

“It was pretty common for a woman to be lying on the abortion table while holding a rosary…” 2016-09-30T17:00:49-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Tim Drake has a very good interview with Abby Johnson posted at the National Catholic Register. Johnson, you’ll recall, was a director at Planned Parenthood who finally quit in 2009. Last year, she and her husband joined the Catholic Church and started an apostolate for abortion workers called And Then There Were None.

At one point in the interview, she talks about the need for the Church to speak more about healing from abortion. The following exchange leaped out at me:

Do you think the Church needs to be taking a bigger role?

Our priests need to be talking and praying about healing from abortion much more. It needs to be said every week in the Prayers of the Faithful. A priest once asked me, “How often do you really expect priests to talk about this?”

I responded, “I don’t know, Father, but when I worked at Planned Parenthood, it was pretty common for women to be lying on the abortion table while holding a rosary. You tell me how often we need to be talking about this.

She also talks about how she came to found her new apostolate:

When I left Planned Parenthood, I knew one day I wanted to work with abortion workers, but didn’t know how. After 40 years of legalized abortion, I thought there would be an organization out there, but there wasn’t.

When my book came out in January 2011, one of my hopes was that abortion workers would pick it up and read it and find some truth in it. They did start reading it. Seventeen workers who wanted to leave contacted me. There was no national group to refer them to.

It was then that I realized how lucky I had been to have a support system in place — and what a shame that there was nothing to help these workers transition. It’s the missing gap in the pro-life movement.

My husband and I felt personally responsible to help these workers financially, so we started the ministry. We officially launched the ministry in June. Since then, we’ve had 13 additional workers leave, for a total of 30.

It’s been beyond anything we ever could have imagined. We offer four streams of assistance: three months of financial support and job-placement support; legal help; emotional support and recovery; and spiritual support.

These workers have experienced serious trauma. They’ve seen and heard and experienced things most people cannot imagine. In the first couple of weeks after they leave, they need someone to talk to every day. The majority of those who have left have been Catholics. This is a wake-up call and a challenge to us as Catholics. We get them in contact with their pastors, priests or a spiritual director.

Read it all. It’s gripping.

Pro-life

Abby Johnson

Pro-life

Previous Post

January 26, 2013

On a married priest abstaining from sex: "A praiseworthy thing"

Next Post

January 27, 2013 Worth a thousand words: Buffalo's new married priest

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism education Education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution Politics politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized Vatican VATICAN vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the first Judge of Israel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Samson Deborah Othniel Gideon

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »