(LifeSiteNews) — My guest on this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show needs no introduction.
I caught up with pro-life legend Abby Johnson at this year’s March for Life in Ottawa, and we talked about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Washington, D.C., Freedom of Access to Clinical Entrances (FACE) Act trials, her new film on the abortion industry, and more.
We begin the episode addressing Johnson’s remarks about Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau at the March for Life in which she called him “worse than a wacko.”
For Johnson, the issue is more than Trudeau’s being a “wacko” or that he makes “idiotic decisions” – to her, Trudeau’s agenda is “demonic.” Johnson tells me that the support for abortion and distribution of contraceptives “at no cost to women” throughout the country is “part of an evil agenda to reduce the population,” with contraception itself increasing abortion rates. “It’s all part of the Trudeau legacy here in Canada,” she says.
READ: Abby Johnson: Prayer and activism are the keys to making Canada a pro-life nation
Speaking to free speech in Canada, she notes that it does not exist. Saying that such is “incredibly dangerous,” Johnson opines that gatherings like the March for Life are “in danger of being pulled.” In the near future, she supposes, Trudeau and those like him could say that people are no longer allowed to gather at Parliament or have pro-life rallies.
“Look what they’ve already done in Canada,” she says. “You can’t go and have a peaceful presence in front of an abortion facility without getting arrested.” To Johnson, there is no reason why Trudeau would not “extend that sort of dictatorship” on the country and stop all pro-life gatherings.
“At some point in time there’s going to have to be some civil disobedience taking place where Canadians say, ‘We’re not doing this anymore. We are going to rise up. We want to be able to say what we want to say when we need to say it,’” she continues.
When I mention the Washington, D.C., FACE Act trials and the sentencing of people like Joan Andrews Bell, Johnson notes that while the pro-lifers did indeed violate the FACE Act, people who commit arson on pro-life pregnancy centers do not face the same level of prosecution. She points to how a gender-confused woman who admitted to vandalizing a Kentucky pregnancy center was only given two years’ probation and a $2,000 fine, while the pro-lifers have been in federal prison since they were convicted and faced significant fines and additional years in prison. Much like the situation in Canada, Johnson says that people need to “start rising up and pushing back against it.”
We also examine the issues arising from how both Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden are both nominal Catholics allowed to receive Holy Communion at Mass. Johnson tells me she recently did a show with two Protestants, both of whom wondering why Biden’s behavior was allowed to remain in the Catholic Church.
All would agree, she believes, that Catholics have been “leading the charge” in the pro-life movement, since the Church has never changed its position on the issue. But the situation is confusing for Catholics, especially devout ones, and for Protestants who have looked to the Church for its “steadfast” defense of life principles, since Biden and people like him can be invited to the Vatican for an audience with the Pope despite excommunicating themselves for their beliefs.
Meanwhile, Biden’s bishop is not saying anything, nor is he denied Holy Communion, she observes. “This should be a united effort from the [United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)],” Johnson asserts. While she does not mean to attack the USCCB, she tells me that it should be a “no-brainer” for the USCCB to declare that all pro-abortion politicians, no matter their office, should be barred from Holy Communion.
“That should not be even an argument in our faith, because that is pure canon law,” she states. To Johnson, “we are playing with their souls” if pro-abortion politicians are allowed to receive Holy Communion. Meanwhile, the priests that knowingly give Holy Communion to those who are in a state of grave sin are going to be held responsible.
Later in the show Johnson talks about her new film, Unthinkable. She explains that since leaving Planned Parenthood she seeks to do whatever she can to uncover everything about the abortion industry, a motivating factor when she wrote Unplanned. While people in favor of abortion discuss protecting women, “Big Abortion” does anything but protect women, she contends, and Unthinkable shows the reality of how the abortion industry treats women.
Speaking about the treatment of women by the abortion industry, she says they are verbally mistreated by staff while on the abortion table, and that they are recruited for being promiscuous, poor, black, or immigrants. The film, she continues, also explores the negligence at abortion clinics. Also in the film is a woman who worked at Kermit Gosnell’s clinic and explains the horrors she saw there.
“I think there’s people in the pro-life movement who think, ‘There’s no way it could be that bad,’ but then you see dozens and dozens of former workers coming together and saying, ‘No, it is that bad, and it’s actually worse than you could have even imagined,’” says Johnson.
PHOTOS: Thousands of pro-lifers descend on Ottawa for Canada’s annual March for Life
Describing the women who participate in the film, Johnson explains that they do not hide who they are and tell everything that they’ve done and all that they’ve seen, no matter the legal consequences. They were willing to their stories despite any legal consequences, Johnson says, knowing that the only way to do justice is to be honest.
“They’re so brave, and they’re so courageous, and I think the film is going to just continue to expose what’s really happening,” she says. Johnson continues by stating that if someone were to walk away from the film still supporting abortion and believing that abortion is good for women, they would be “willfully ignorant.”
When asked why young women would join the pro-abortion movement, Johnson explains that it is because they’ve had one, which is something also seen in the abortion industry: 70 percent of the women that work for the abortion industry work at the abortuary where they aborted their child. They are usually recruited during the abortion or the follow-up appointment.
Describing experiences she has had with pro-abortion protesters at pro-life rallies, Johnson tells me they are always shocked to learn that she too had an abortion. Johnson explains she loves telling them that the pro-life movement is one of converts and that they can change their mind on the issue. While they may not change their mind the day they meet, they can as they continue to grow and have more life experiences.
“It’s interesting,” Johnson says. “They can very easily be disarmed, I think, because they have a very specific stereotype that they believe us to be.”
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