'I Think There's...Fear': Abby Johnson Responds to Washington Post Editorial's Misrepresentation of Abortion Numbers
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- Well, I think the last I checked,
we're over 17 millionat the box office and,
which is awesome becausethe critics thought
we would make like $40.
So, yeah.
We're excited.
And we're working to
get the film out on DVDas quickly as possible.
We're probably lookingat about three months
for that to happen, but they're trying
to expedite that as quickly as possible
because we know that churchesand different youth groups
and different organizationsare really wanting
to be able to show this film
and so, DVD would be agreat way to do that.
I think it's about timing right now.
You know, we've seen alot of pro-life movies
sort of come and go,
and people have said,what's the difference here
with Unplanned and I reallythink it's about timing.
You know, we look at what's happening
just in these crazy lawsthat are being passed
all across the country.
Late-term abortions, infanticide laws
and you know, I think thatpeople are just ready.
I think they are ready to see the truth.
I think people were seeking truth
on the issue of abortionand this film, hopefully,
will be a really powerfultool that people can use
moving forward to showthe truth of abortion
and also to show the powerful,redemptive nature of Christ.
Abortion is painful (laughs).
Even people who are pro-choice will say,
people who have hadabortions that are pro-choice
will say yeah, abortion hurts.
It's physically painful.
I think it's really disingenuous
for this people in the abortion community
to essentially call womenliars who are speaking out,
not only the physical pain of abortion
but also there is, for many women,
significant emotional pain
and here they are, anorganization that says
that they are there to trustwomen and listen to women,
yet when women start speaking out
about their abortion experiences,they want us to shut up
and you know, you can't have it both ways.
You have to listen to both sides
if you truly want to believewomen and trust women
and you know, they, yeah,
they have, surprisinglyit's been abortion doctors
who have been pushing back on that scene
because they have to.
They have to perpetuate the lie
that the unborn childdoesn't feel anything,
that there's no sensory development there,
that there's no humanity there
in the unborn,
but what we know is that my account
is not some sort of isolated account.
In 1984, many, many years ago,
Dr. Bernard Nathanson cameout with The Silent Scream,
a former abortionist,
and it showed the same sortof thing on a real abortion.
It wasn't a CGI abortionlike, that's in Unplanned.
It was a real abortion taking place,
showed the same sort ofthing that my film showed
and this was in 1984.
I mean, this knowledge hasbeen around for a long time,
the proof that the unborn feel pain,
the proof that they can feel
what's actually happeningto them in an abortion
that they can sense that sort of danger
has been around for years.
So you know, the fact thatthey're in denial about that
just shows that they'rereally out of touch
with scientific reality.
We have proved over and over again
through Planned Parenthood's own budget,
through former abortion clinic workers
who have come through andthere were nuns speaking out.
We've proved it inblack and white on paper
that they do have abortion quotas,
that abortion is a productthat they're selling
so they can say that all they want
but I mean, the proof isthere, the evidence is there.
They're receiving awards.
That has been proven.
We have come out with thephysical evidence of an award
that was given to a clinic for exceeding
their abortion quota,
so the proof is there,the evidence is there.
They need to believewhatever they need to believe
to keep their agenda going,
but the proof is already out there.
I think there is a littlebit of fear, actually,
within the pro-choice community.
I mean, there was a recent Marist Poll
that came out a couple months ago
that showed that in one month,
in that one month time period,
there was a 14% jump inDemocrats who were pro-life,
so before the wholelate-term abortion debate
in New York had taken place,
20% of Democrats identified as pro-life.
One month later, a pollshowed that 34% of Democrats
identified as pro-life.
I think that's scary.
They're losing their constituency.
They are losing their supporters.
People are researching on their own.
They're looking at what abortion really is
and I think that they are losing ground,
they're losing momentum andparticularly among young people,
particularly among millennials,
there have been studiesthat have shown that
when millennials are presentedwith the truth of abortion,
they're more likely to change their mind
and become pro-choice,
and that has got to be scary
for the pro-choice movement right now.
But we look at the millennialgeneration in particular.
The first picture thatthey have of themselves
is of them in the womb.
And so it's really hard
for them to be convinced
that even at that time,when they're looking
at their own ultrasound picture
that they weren't a human being,
that they weren't a baby.
And science and technology,medical advancements,
I mean it's just,
it's coming down more andmore on the side of life
and that has to be very scary
for the pro-choice movement at this point.
These digoxin-infused abortions
have been going on foryears in many states
and you know, the sad reality is that
if they even make it to the heart,
a lot of less-skilled abortion doctors,
they don't have the ability to get
the injection directly into the heart
so they just inject itinto the amniotic fluid,
the baby ingests that overdose of digoxin
and many times, the mothercan actually feel her child
fighting for its life asit's overdosing in her womb.
This is not new.
This has been happening
but the fact that they're willing
to actually put it onpaper and put it into law
just really shows the depravity
of the legislators there.
It was a good article.
It was surprising it when I saw.
But yeah, I read it and
yeah, I think they're right on.
I think that some ofthe most powerful voices
in this movement are peoplewho have been affected
by abortion personally,
so you know, I do believethat we will see a time
where abortion is unthinkable
and I don't think it's gonna,
it's not gonna come fromlegislative victories.
I don't believe it's gonnacome from scientific evidence.
I think it's gonna come from stories
because that's really what
pricks at the conscience and emotions
and it's gonna come from stories
of women who've had abortionswho regret that decision.
It's gonna come from people who worked
in the abortion clinics.
There's nobody to tell you howthe abortion industry works
than someone who actually worked there
and saw it first hand andI think it's important
that we're making allies in allof these pockets that we can
because everybody's voice is very powerful
when it comes to defending a life.
Well, it's still in theaters
so four weeks in, still in theaters,
so if you haven't seen it,
go to unplannedtickets.com,
find a local theaterthat's still playing it,
go see it, take your friends,
take your pro-choicefriends, take your kids.
It's rated R but it's onlyrated R because it's real
and a lot of people have saidit's rated R for recommended
so you teenagers need to see this film.
We're excited aboutstreaming and DVD release.
There's a lot of women whohave been affected by abortion
that were, they were scaredto go see it in the theater.
They were scared of whattheir response might be.
I feel like we're gonnacontinue to reach women
who are in need of healing,
especially after the DVD comesout and they can watch it
in the privacy of their own home,
watch it with a friend, you know, spouse,
somebody that can sortof just hold their hand
while they're watching the film and so,
we just want people to understand
that this is a very powerful tool
that wasn't, it's not aboutbe, it's really about God.
It's His story and how He can redeem
literally anything from our past.
He can take anything from our past
and use it for His glory
and so I hope that this brings about
even more testimonies from women
and certainly we're seeingabortion clinic workers
leaving their jobs at a ratethat we have never seen before
and so, we're veryencouraged by that as well.