Abby Johnson

Abby Johnson

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“”We went to war over slavery, right? Why? Because there was a group of people who were seen and treated as subhuman. And right now, in our country, there is a group of people who are seen and treated as subhuman. We are, in our society, at war, but maybe it means more than that. And maybe it should. If there was ever a time, if there was ever an issue for us to actually go to war over—when this becomes illegal, and if these clinics try to remain open and kill these babies, then maybe direct action needs to take place. If there was ever an issue for us to stand up and say, "This is something that we are willing to physically fight for," this is it!

—Abby Johnson

“”Well, here's one divine outcome from Harvey. A tree fell and blocked the road in front of one of our Austin abortion facilities.

—Abby Johnson, seeing the bright side of a hurricane.

Abby Johnson (11 July, 1980–) is an American right-wing anti-abortion activist from the state of Texas. She has worked with various anti-abortion organizations such as Life News Americans United for Life, and Live Action. She is the founder and leader of the anti-abortion organization And Then There Were None (ATTWN) which lobbies abortion-clinic workers to leave the industry and provides money as well as counseling for those who do.

Johnson has 8 children with her husband Doug.

From Planned Parenthood worker to anti-abortion activist

Johnson is most famous for her backstory, specifically regarding how she was previously an employee for a local Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas, even winning their employee of the year award in 2008, only to become sternly against abortion later on. According to her website, Johnson credits viewing an ultrasound while assisting with a first trimester abortion in September 2009 as the reason for her change of heart. (This background has actually caused some in the anti-abortion movement to dislike the massive role she plays these days, arguing that her new perspective doesn't justify her previous actions.)

The problem is, to be blunt, this isn't true. Records from the Planned Parenthood where she worked show that no ultrasound monitor was used during abortions took place that day (ultrasound monitors are uncommon during first trimester abortions), let alone one that Johnson helped with. Other claims that she made regarding about her time at Planned Parenthood have similarly been called into question. For example, she claimed that Planned Parenthood regularly pressured her to increase the number of abortions performed at the clinic. However, even Fox News was forced to admit that she "had no way to prove her allegations about practices at the Bryan branch." Planned Parenthood has also denied any such accusation, and the occasional details that Johnson gives do not help her case. On one occasion, she said the woman who had the abortion which changed her mind was Black (race baiting is a tactic Johnson has engaged in on numerous occasions, at one point claiming the high rates of abortions among African Americans is "intentionally being done by the abortion industry"), but the only Black woman who had an abortion that day was only pregnant for six weeks, not thirteen. Multiple people who worked with Johnson also report her reaction to ultrasound-based abortions being positive, and credit her conversion to opportunism put together with distaste for how Planned Parenthood treated her specifically.

Elsewhere, she has repeated various well-known hoaxes about her former bosses. On one occasion, she claimed that Planned Parenthood has connections to child sex trafficking. At another point, she argued that the organization has a a quota for the number of abortions that need to be performed.

Johnson has also made it a point to cash in on this story in other ways, such as making a film based on what she alleged happened, called Unplanned. Released in 2019, the film managed to be a box office success through making twenty-one million dollars despite a six-million dollar budget. It was also the 108th highest grossing movie of that year, for whatever that is worth.

Other views

During the 2012 presidential election, she endorsed Rick Santorum for President. Johnson spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention, and endorsed Donald Trump for his anti-abortion views. In 2023, Johnson said that Christians should not support Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy because of his Hindu faith.

Her political views, unsurprisingly, tend to be rather far-right. She has previously defended racial profiling, for example, and has argued that people should only be given one vote per household, with the husband getting the final say on who the family votes for. She has also criticized same-sex couples who use processes like IVF and surrogacy to have children.

Johnson has said that she's against capital punishment.