April 11, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abby Johnson, the organizer behind the first-ever “Leave the Abortion Industry Day,” also known as Exodus 2013, says she is thrilled with the outcome of Monday's event.
So far, she says, five abortion industry workers have contacted her ministry for help to leave their jobs. In addition, numerous media outlets, including the Mike Huckabee show and America's News HQ show, and 30 radio stations, publicized the event.
“On Monday, we were able to talk to 5 employees who were looking to quit their jobs!!” she wrote in an e-mail to supporters today. “Five more people OUT OF THE ABORTION INDUSTRY!! Five more people on the road to healing!” (Emphasis in original.)
Johnson, who is a former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic, started her ministry to abortion workers, And Then There Were None (ATTWN), in June of last year. Even before Monday’s event, the ministry had already helped 47 abortion workers leave the industry.
ATTWN provides emotional, financial, and spiritual support for workers who have left their jobs and are looking for a new line of work.
ATTWN’s motto is: “No more abortion clinic workers, no more abortion clinics, no more abortions. It starts with the workers.”
“Like most of the workers who come through ATTWN, some are single parents struggling to provide for their kids,” Johnson said about the five abortion workers who contacted her on Monday. “Some are truly in need of spiritual and emotional healing after their participation in abortion.”
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Exodus 2013 involved sending pro-life materials to every abortion clinic across the country, and inviting abortion workers to consider leaving their jobs. As well, supporters of ATTWN were asked to pray for the success of the event.
In a letter to abortion workers, Johnson wrote: “Whatever led you to work in the abortion industry, please realize that this isn’t your full potential.”
“If you feel bound to your job in an abortion clinic (whether it’s financial struggles, pressure from friends or family, a sense of obligation from an abortion in your past, or anything else) you don’t have to feel trapped in your work at an abortion clinic any more,” she wrote.
After outlining ways ATTWN has helped other abortion workers leave, Johnson concluded, “We can help you, too.”
The date, April 8, was chosen for two reasons: not only was it Holocaust Remembrance Day, but it was also the day the Catholic Church this year observed the feast day of the Annunciation, the day when Christians remember the angel visiting Mary to ask her to become the mother of Jesus. (The feast was moved this year due to Holy Week. It typically falls on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas.)
Interestingly, after the name for the event was chosen, Exodus 2013, organizers looked up the corresponding passage in the Bible (Exodus 20:13), and discovered that it contained the commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Kill.”
Johnson said that it is clear that Planned Parenthood is worried about ATTWN, and Exodus 2013 in particular.
“We got word from several different employees that Planned Parenthood sent out several emails about our ministry,” she said. “This is just further proof that we are making a difference AND that the abortion industry is very fearful of former abortion clinic workers.”
In one e-mail sent to Planned Parenthood employees that was forwarded to Johnson, Planned Parenthood accused Johnson of creating a group to “intimidate” abortion workers.
“Her goal is to convince Planned Parenthood staff that they should leave our organization,” wrote Planned Parenthood to their employees. “We know that you will not let these sorts of intimidation techniques sway you from our mission.”
“We, at Planned Parenthood, are committed to the growth and advancement of our staff,” said the organization. “We are confident you will remain with us.”
Last month, Planned Parenthood threatened to sue a former employee who had mailed a pamphlet about ATTWN to her former place of work.
“You do not have license to harass your former co-workers, either at work or in their homes, or to provide information to others that allows them to engage in harassing behavior,” a letter from Planned Parenthood stated. “If this behavior continues, Planned Parenthood, on behalf of its employees, will pursue all available legal remedies.”
