There were many wrongs I needed to come to terms with when I walked away from my clinic director job at Planned Parenthood after eight years. While the most obvious ones were the number of abortions I facilitated, the women I keep coming back to are the ones whom I convinced to end their pregnancies because I persuaded them a baby would kill their dreams.
How many women did I persuade to abort with the arguments that there was no way they would have the ability to have a career and their child, to finish their education and have their child, to challenge their partner to man up and care for his family? My entire career was built upon the business model of telling women they were never going to be enough, never going to achieve their dreams, if they didn’t go through with their abortion — oftentimes more than one.
How many Amy Coney Barretts did I discourage when I worked at Planned Parenthood? Thousands, maybe?
The original idea of feminism was equality between men and women, and that women had every right to chase their dreams and not be hindered by the shackles of societal expectations. But when abortion was introduced into the movement, the new feminism centered around women being able to achieve their dreams as long as they could terminate their own child — because children are that much of a hindrance to the dreams of women, the feminists said.
When actress Michelle Williams accepted her Golden Globe award earlier this year, she attributed her success to her own abortion, saying she “wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose.” No, women are stronger than that. This is the biggest lie of the abortion movement. Stop telling women they are weaklings who need to choose their careers over their babies.
Barrett is the ultimate example of true feminism, following in the very steps of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the radical feminists hate it. They hate that she has a fulfilling career without having had abortions. They hate that she stands so humbly with her husband and seven children, that she has deep and resounding faith, that she does not have the need to shout anything so awful as abortion from the rooftops.
Ginsburg was a pioneer, achieving one of the most prestigious jobs in the whole country while still fulfilling her roles as wife and mother. Barrett goes further: if she is confirmed, she will be the first female justice with school-aged children. She will be executing her role on the highest court in the land by day and baking brownies for her child’s school by night. Ask any mom who works, and she will tell you how relatable this scenario is. Sure, we aren’t hearing cases and writing opinions, but we are working to be a role model for our children, an employee or boss who meets deadlines and works hard, a parent who has no idea how to do pre-algebra without some serious YouTube video help.
Barrett isn’t alone in her work as a wife, mother, and judge. Her husband, who she so touchingly praised during her Rose Garden speech, is her partner in making it all work. I get this on a deep level. My husband, Doug, is that rock for our family who holds down the fort when I am traveling and working. He is the scheduler, cook, carpooler, entertainer, and all-around awesome dad for our eight children. Feminism often overlooks the important roles of husbands and fathers.
When I worked at Planned Parenthood, women seeking abortions often told me they had unsupportive partners. How many abortions wouldn’t happen if men stepped up and took responsibility for their actions? The scorn that abortion supporters have for men who stand by their partners is deep. That is not only lost money for the industry when men step up, but it also hurts on a more intrinsic level for the women whose partners failed them at their time of need.
Barrett’s nomination is personal for me. She stands for all the women I blatantly lied to when I worked at Planned Parenthood and encouraged them to distrust themselves and end the lives of their children. And yet she stands for my family and myself right now, a woman I can relate to on nearly every level who runs a household with my husband, who works and mothers and holds unshakable faith. I see this woman who chose life and, according to feminism, “has it all.”
She is the antidote to Michelle Williams and all of the women who scream that women need abortion. The smiling faces of her children and husband are worse than nails on a chalkboard to these radical feminists.
Abby Johnson is CEO and founder of And There Were None and ProLove Ministries. She is the author of Unplanned and hosts a podcast, Politely Rude.
