Inside an abortion clinic …after dark

Pro-life culture-warrior – and Live Action Research Strategist – Abby Johnson writes this piece describing what nights are like actually within the walls of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. As former clinic director, Abby spent many nights alone in the clinic that she worked; a building that saw the brutal slaughtering of thousands of innocent children. On her first graveyard shift:

I walked in and heard the heavy door slam behind me.  It echoed as it closed.  The clinic had high ceilings and every noise echoed like you were in a cave.  It was silent…no creaks, no water dripping, nothing…totally silent.  So silent in fact, I could almost hear something…and I’m telling you, it almost sounded like babies crying.  I know that sounds crazy and I totally disregarded it at the time.  I ran up to the front of the clinic, away from the freezer where the babies were kept until the medical waste came to pick them up.  I didn’t want to be next to that freezer.  Did I really hear that?  Surely it was just my imagination.

Over time, the crying stopped and the silence became familiar. As Abby describes it, “sin had taken over.” Yet twice a year, when the 40 Days for Life campaign came to town, she was no longer alone:

You can bring comfort to clinic workers.  You may never hear that from their mouths.  But at night, when they are alone in that building, they will be glad to look out and see you standing there in prayer…even if they never say it.  I can tell you that now, since being on the other side, I have more interaction with clinic workers at night…when they are alone.  When there are no eyes on them, no one else looking out the clinic windows, no supervisors around, just me and them.  That is when they talk.  That is when the wall comes down.  That is when relationships develop.

Don’t be afraid of the night.  Don’t be afraid to pray outside of an abortion clinic after hours.  People might say it is silly…after all, no abortions happen when the building is closed.  But amazing things can happen after hours.  The workers still come and go.  Your presence can be the reason that one day those workers walk out of those doors and stand with you on the other side.

— 2011 (c) Live Action —