Unplanned by Abby Johnson

Goodreads: Unplanned

Series: none

Publication Date: Dec. 2010

Source: Purchased

Summary: The true story of a Planned Parenthood director who quit her job after eight years when she helped perform her first actual abortion, and then joined the Coalition for Life.

Review: Unplanned is a continuous story with two distinct sections—one when Abby was pro-choice and one when she became pro-life.  She makes a remarkable effort to explain her thinking at each stage of her life.  She explains why she was pro-choice and the reasons she truly loved her job at Planned Parenthood in a fairly objective manner, trying to help readers (most of whom she knows are probably pro-life) understand her thought process and appreciate the other side of the debate.  The overarching point is that pro-choice supporters, and most of the volunteers at Planned Parenthood, have good intentions are really interested in helping women. 

Her explanation of why she became pro-life is not quite as clear, perhaps because it took her awhile to sort out her own thoughts.  When she first quit her job, she even talked to the director of the Coalition for Life about her worries she was not “pro-life enough.”  She still worried about many of the issues always brought up in debate, such as cases of rape.  Following Abby’s conversion from one side of the fence to the other is moving because it was never black and white for her; she had to fight to figure out what she believed.  Now that she is established as a prominent pro-lifer, she still understands that people disagree with her, and her book is not a pushy tract trying to convert others, just a personal memoir explaining her own personal decision.   It has a sense of catharsis, with a just a quiet implication that if it does happen to help readers find their own beliefs, or to understand their “opponents,” she would like that.

Some reviewers disagree that the book is mostly objective, arguing that Abby “was never really pro-choice” or that she is “too defensive” about her decisions.  The first complaint is a matter of opinion, but it is worth noting that there are shades of grey on both sides of the abortion debate.  There are many people who are technically pro-choice who have some reservations about abortion.  Not everyone who thinks it should be legal thinks it is the best thing a woman can do.  It is a valid viewpoint.  The second complaint has some merit, but Abby’s defensiveness grew from the personal attacks she experienced (both when she was pro-choice and when she became pro-life) and from the lawsuit Planned Parenthood brought against her.  She also now believes that she is responsible for a number of morally reprehensible actions.  She is trying to come to terms with that and may be justifying herself to herself, in addition to her readers.

Whether this is the life-altering read that other reviewers have called it, I do not know.  I found it interesting mostly in that it strove to give a balanced portrayal of both sides of the abortion debate and in that it chronicled one woman’s very radical change of beliefs.  Her type of story is not unique—other professionals have switched from each side—but it is fairly rare.   And it is good to know what might drive a person to make so profound a switch.