OXON HILL, Md. — On Thursday, former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson said her upcoming film Unplanned was perfectly timed by God, given the constant stream of abortion news and radical abortion activism across the country in recent weeks.
“We could not have timed the release of this film, I mean this was timed truly by God,” Johnson said on the stage of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
She went through the most recent abortion news. “We’ve got states that are now legalizing abortion through the moment of birth. We have a governor, Governor [Ralph] Northam, saying that it’s acceptable to kill babies after they’ve been born alive following a failed abortion. We have all of these congresspeople voting against protecting innocent children who happen to be born alive after an abortion.”
“Guys, this is a tipping point in our movement,” Johnson declared.
“Guys, this is a tipping point moment in our movement,” declares @AbbyJohnson at a screening of @UnplannedMovie at #CPAC2019 @CPAC They could not have timed it better. @PJMedia_com pic.twitter.com/bxkyUKdjMX
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) March 1, 2019
Indeed, last month New York passed a radical law legalizing abortion throughout pregnancy if one doctor says it is necessary for a woman’s health, removing protections for babies born in a botched abortion, and even removing protections for wanted babies killed when a pregnant woman is abused.
Governor Ralph Northam (D-Va.) defended the killing of babies born in an attempted abortion and doubled down on his comments. On Monday, all but three Senate Democrats voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. All six 2020 presidential hopefuls in the Senate voted against it.
Unplanned will be released at the end of March. CPAC hosted a screening of the film right before Abby Johnson’s comments. The movie tells Johnson’s story in a shocking and moving manner, which resulted in tears, laughs, and applause among the CPAC audience.
The film dealt with the ugliness of abortion, the complications involved, Planned Parenthood’s corrupt desire to increase the number of dead babies, and the depth of mercy and grace extended to Johnson after she decided to leave Planned Parenthood and join the pro-life movement.
“There’s never been a film that has shown just the barbaric truth of abortion like this one does, and I think the beautiful thing about this film is that it really creates a conversion in all of us,” Abby Johnson said.
She argued the film creates “a conversion moment for all of us that maybe we haven’t been doing enough, maybe we’ve been apathetic about this issue. Maybe we’ve harbored resentment in our hearts toward those who’ve had abortions or those who work in abortion facilities. Maybe we just haven’t believed in the radical mercy of Christ like we should.”
Johnson, a Christian, described the power of God’s forgiveness. In the film, Ashley Bratcher (who plays Abby Johnson) breaks down in tears feeling the weight of all her guilt. She had been complicit in the killing of 22,000 babies. Yet according to the Christian faith, all men and women are sinners and Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty of their sins. The immense weight of Abby Johnson’s guilt was forgiven by the grace of God.
“And so I think this is really an opportunity for us as a Christian conservative pro-life movement to really sound the alarm and to show people what is really happening inside these abortion facilities,” Johnson declared. “And to show our country, to show women that they are more valuable than the exploitation they receive inside of Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities.”
Abby Johnson encouraged the CPAC audience to get involved in the pro-life movement. “And so I think that this is really go time in our movement,” she said.
Johnson also encouraged the crowd by announcing she was pregnant — with her eighth child.
Cheers for @AbbyJohnson declaring that she is pregnant at #CPAC2019! @CPAC "I already told Doug, we are one and done. And this is number 8 for us."
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) March 1, 2019
The filmmakers encouraged CPAC attendees to buy tickets for the film and to invite their friends.
Indeed, the film proved strong and fascinating, and even pro-abortion Americans should watch it if only to understand where pro-life Americans are coming from.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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