Reclaiming Our Children: A Blog About Healing After Abortion

Interesting post on a comment Abby Johnson made over at Jill Stanek.

"Are Aborting Mother Victims?"

"Some of you may think the abortionists hold more guilt than the mother. I would disagree. I do not believe women are “victims” to abortion. I have had two abortions. I was not a victim" Abby JOhnson

While Abby may not think she was a victim, I think she should be careful not to judge others. Lots of comments, some pretty condeming of post abortive women, but Carla Stream and Sydney M as well as Good Counsels own Gerard Nadal made some good comments.

Here is what I wrote in response.

I don’t know Abby Johnson, but I have never been comfortable with her. When everyone else was raving about her book, I could not get through it. What I saw was a person who needed healing and had been thrust into the pro life movement as a hero instead of a person who needed time alone with God to heal.

Sometimes I think in the quest to make abortion illegal and to show how wrong it is, the pro life movement exploits and elevates people. What makes a Planned Parenthood Director, and woman who aborted two of her children a hero? The fact that she walked away from something she never should have done to begin with?

I am not judging Abby, in fact, I don’t blame her. All that has happened really fits in to what she has done all her life. She came across Planned Parenthood on her college campus and worked to be on top. She obviously is someone who is comfortable there. She was not there for a month, she was there for years. She walked out and did the same in the pro life movement writing a book within months, and we embraced her as a hero.

One thing I must say however, is I do, like Carla have an issue with her statement about post abortive women. While it is true women have to agree in the end to have an abortion, many factors come in to an abortion decision. This never makes abortion right, but the culpability of the action is certainly different for each individual. A teen forced by a parent does not hold the same responsibility as an adult who freely chooses. Yes, they may know it is wrong, but if their husband is threatening to leave them with three other kids if they do not abort, they truly may feel at the time that they had no choice. Many women certainly are victims, but that does not free them from the pain, guilt, shame and sorrow that come with their decision to abort their children. Only God can free them from that

Again, I am not saying abortion is ever okay, but I think since Abby has decided to be such a public figure she should think about what she has said. She may not be participating in the abortion of babies anymore, but how many women she may be aborting from healing by such statements? No woman needs for anyone to tell them what they did was wrong…none need for anyone to call them murderers or anything else. The judgments I hear sometimes are amazing. Are those who make them so sure they are deserving of heaven?

We are all sinners in need of Gods mercy. Every single one of us. No one of us deserves heaven, it is only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we get there…Jesus Christ who died for our sins..even our sin of abortion. Thank God He is the judge.