Former Planned Parenthood Employee Shares a Big Reason Why Young People Are Pro-Life

January 19, 2018

WRITER

The 45th annual March for Life is taking place today. Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson, now a pro-life advocate, joined Glenn on today’s show to talk about why so many young people are passionate about protecting unborn babies.

‘I Was Wrong’: Glenn Remembers When He Wasn’t Openly Pro-Life

The advancements of science and technology have been influential for today’s pro-lifers. The younger generation grew up with the idea that your first “baby picture” is an ultrasound, something that has made a profound difference to how they see life in the womb.

Johnson also shared the best ways to reach out to ex-abortion clinic employees or moms-to-be who are contemplating abortion. Reacting with anger and condemnation will only produce more hurt in return; instead, we should be kind and offer a far better, more hopeful alternative to abortion.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Abby Johnson, she is the CEO and founder of and then there were none. She was a woman -- I would like to ask her to tell her story, in case you've never heard it. Because it is -- it's a story of redemption and love.

Abby, welcome to the program.

ABBY: Oh, thanks for having me, Glenn. It's always good to be on.

GLENN: You are in Washington, I assume?

ABBY: I am. I'm backstage in the March for Life.

GLENN: I know you've got a million things going on. Can you tell me first what's happening today, and how many people are showing up, and what it's like?

ABBY: Sure. So 45th Annual March for Life. I mean, it's sad that we're still here, 45 years after Roe v. Wade. But we see, you know, significant change in our culture. The overwhelming majority of people here are under the age of 30. I'm 37, and they look at me like I'm ancient. So it's young people here.

In fact, 50 years ago, the president, they were out in the March for Life. And in her report, she said, I looked around, and I thought to myself, "They are all so young."

And that's true. And I think one of the reasons is because, you know, we have a generation of people now that their first baby picture was of themselves in the womb.

It's not, you know, being -- being a child in the womb is not something that is abstract. They can see themselves. They can see that they were potentially at risk for abortion. But they were able to live.

And so it's very real for them. And it's -- it's a great time coming together. But also a time of remembrance, for, you know, the 60 million-plus lives that have been destroyed by abortion. And that's just the unborn. Then we have to consider all the women and men who are also suffering from their abortion decisions.

We expect probably between 400 and 500,000 people to be here in Washington today. Although, you know, CNN will probably say there were a few thousand.

GLENN: Yeah. It doesn't matter.

ABBY: But it's always -- it's always a good time.

GLENN: So, Abby, would you just share your story? Because I like -- what I -- I think you are the key to unlocking so many doors. Because you actually worked at Planned Parenthood. And you're not somebody who is -- you know, drives the abortion truck. You know, that is -- is shouting at people as they go into Planned Parenthood. You're a person who has compassion. And that's what led you to Planned Parenthood in the first place, until you figured it out.

ABBY: Right. So I worked at Planned Parenthood for eight years. Got involved as a college kid. Got -- the prime target for Planned Parenthood is college-aged kids. I say that wherever there are vulnerable women, so is Planned Parenthood. And there are tens of thousands of vulnerable students on college campuses. And you better believe that Planned Parenthood is right there along with them. I didn't know anything about Planned Parenthood. But they told me they were all about helping women. And certainly as a woman, I want to help other women. And so got involved with them. Ended up rising through the ranks. Was a clinic director with them for many years.

And left, in October of 2009, after witnessing a live ultrasound abortion procedure, where I saw a baby fight and struggle for his life against the abortion instrument, and ultimately lost his life.

And I knew then that two things were true: That life was, in fact, in the womb. And that there was humanity in the womb. And if those two things were true, then I was on the wrong side of this debate.

And so I left. And when I left, Planned Parenthood sued me. Tried to take me to court. Tried to get a permanent gag order against me so that I would not be able to speak out about my experience at Planned Parenthood and things that I do.

And they obviously lost. And then a couple years later, I started an organization called, And Then There Were None.

And we actively reach out to abortion clinic workers and try to get them out of the abortion industry.

And to date, in the past few years, we have helped 419 abortion clinic workers leave the industry, find help and hope and healing in Christ.

GLENN: Wow.

ABBY: And get them new jobs in life-affirming situations. And that 419 also includes seven full-time abortion doctors, who now work in life-affirming medical practices.

GLENN: What was the key to the -- I mean, the doctors know. What was the key to turn them?

ABBY: You know, they know. A lot of times they've known for a while. And they've wanted to get out for a while. But I think almost all the doctors that we have helped to leave, they -- there's a lot of baggage that comes along with them. Because when you are aborting babies, you are also usually living a pretty immoral lifestyle.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

ABBY: And so there's tax issues. There's, you know, many, many divorces. There's, you know, all these issues with children, custody. And so there's a lot of baggage that comes along with them. And they just think, I'm never going to get out of this. I'm never going to be able to get my head above water. Because performing abortion is a very lucrative job. And they think that they can't do it. And we just show them that, look, your soul is more important than the money you're bringing in every year. And we're going to help you -- we're going to help you get your head above water, but you've got to trust us.

GLENN: Abbey, what is the one thing that maybe has been done in the past that you hope to change with people who are pro-life? What is the thing that if you could have everybody here today, this is the message that we should be carrying?

ABBY: So we've got to be carrying a message of love. And oftentimes, there's life and death and the power of the tongue, right?

And in this case in the times that we're living in now, it's the power of our keyboard. And I wish that I could, you know, talk to every pro-lifer and instruct them on how to respond to people online. People are watching us.

Women who have had abortions, they're watching us. They're watching how we respond. And when you call them murderers. When you say hateful things about them, when you say that God will never forgive them, they're watching us. And you could be impeding someone's progress to finding healing and hope in Christ.

When -- when a woman is considering having an abortion, when she's trying to make that decision and she sees you online saying, you know, I -- just, women who do that, oh, they just need to keep their legs closed. What's wrong with them? And they made their need, and they need to lie in it. They're saying things like that. You have the ability to change someone's life and to actually save a life. When an abortion worker is online or a former abortion worker is online and they're looking for resources and they're looking for help, and they pro-lifers, you know, I hope they burn in hell. I pray they burn in hell. God is never going to forgive them. They're baby killers.

They're watching you. And I just wish that I could help everybody understand that our words are so powerful. And underneath everything we do, it should be undergirded in love and in life and in mercy. Because we have all received mercy and grace from Christ, and we should be extending that to everyone.

GLENN: Abby Johnson, thank you so much. I'm glad your voice was heard today.

ABBY: Thanks.

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Parts of America, like Portland and Chicago, now resemble occupied territory. Progressive city governments have surrendered control to street militias, leaving citizens, journalists, and even federal officers to face violent anarchists without protection.

Take Portland, where Antifa has terrorized the city for more than 100 consecutive nights. Federal officers trying to keep order face nightly assaults while local officials do nothing. Independent journalists, such as Nick Sortor, have even been arrested for documenting the chaos. Sortor and Blaze News reporter Julio Rosas later testified at the White House about Antifa’s violence — testimony that corporate media outlets buried.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

Chicago offers the same grim picture. Federal agents have been stalked, ambushed, and denied backup from local police while under siege from mobs. Calls for help went unanswered, putting lives in danger. This is more than disorder; it is open defiance of federal authority and a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

A history of violence

For years, the legacy media and left-wing think tanks have portrayed Antifa as “decentralized” and “leaderless.” The opposite is true. Antifa is organized, disciplined, and well-funded. Groups like Rose City Antifa in Oregon, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club in Texas, and Jane’s Revenge operate as coordinated street militias. Legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild provide protection, while crowdfunding networks and international supporters funnel money directly to the movement.

The claim that Antifa lacks structure is a convenient myth — one that’s cost Americans dearly.

History reminds us what happens when mobs go unchecked. The French Revolution, Weimar Germany, Mao’s Red Guards — every one began with chaos on the streets. But it wasn’t random. Today’s radicals follow the same playbook: Exploit disorder, intimidate opponents, and seize moral power while the state looks away.

Dismember the dragon

The Trump administration’s decision to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization was long overdue. The label finally acknowledged what citizens already knew: Antifa functions as a militant enterprise, recruiting and radicalizing youth for coordinated violence nationwide.

But naming the threat isn’t enough. The movement’s financiers, organizers, and enablers must also face justice. Every dollar that funds Antifa’s destruction should be traced, seized, and exposed.

AFP Contributor / Contributor | Getty Images

This fight transcends party lines. It’s not about left versus right; it’s about civilization versus anarchy. When politicians and judges excuse or ignore mob violence, they imperil the republic itself. Americans must reject silence and cowardice while street militias operate with impunity.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened. The violence in Portland and Chicago is deliberate, not spontaneous. If America fails to confront it decisively, the price won’t just be broken cities — it will be the erosion of the republic itself.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

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The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

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What our response to Israel reveals about us

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I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

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