Life Unplanned: Our Interview with Abby Johnson

Before the movie, you wrote the book Unplanned. What made you share your story in the first place?

I had a heart to reach other people who were currently working in the clinic. And I thought that if I was working in the clinic and someone came out of the environment where I had worked and wrote this book as a sort of tell-all exposé, I would pick it up and read it. I thought, “What if I write a book and a clinic worker picks it up, reads it, finds truth, and leaves the abortion industry? That would be a book worth writing.” But, honestly, I didn’t really think a lot of people would read it. I thought it was mainly going to help me heal from my past experiences. I remember thinking, “Who cares? My parents will read it and maybe my grandma.” Then it ended up becoming a bestseller.

What inspired you to turn your book into a movie?

I was contacted by two guys who I didn’t know and had never heard of. They sent me an email asking if I would ever be interested in turning my book Unplanned into a major motion picture. I laughed it off at first thinking that these were just two no-name directors. When I told my husband about it, he asked if I had looked them up. I told him no. He went to IMDb and typed in their names. And he said, “These are the guys that did God’s Not Dead. This is for real.”

But I really was not interested. I felt like I had been vulnerable enough. I thought I had shared enough in my book. Eventually I emailed them back and said we could talk about it, but I didn’t know if I was interested. The directors flew to my home and met and prayed with my parents, my family, and my friends—everyone who was part of my story. While I was still nervous to move forward, I thought, “Well, I’m just gonna do it scared.” We felt like God had called me and these men to create this movie, so we just decided to go ahead and move forward.

Are you surprised by how much notoriety the movie has gained?

Yes! I thought the movie would have some success, but I didn’t realize what a big deal it was going to be until we were a couple months out from the film premiere. We had a company that was working on private screenings, and they had done private screenings for hundreds of other films. One of the women said, “Abby, we have never had this much excitement and interest in a film.” Then we found out that Unplanned broke records for the most private screenings of any film ever.

After that, I thought, “Everyone is already going to see the film in private screenings, and they won’t go to the theaters.” But the theaters were packed, and we are right under $20 million at the box office. The per-screen average for Unplanned was higher than all the other movies that came out that weekend.

Photo courtesy ABBY JOHNSON

The movie Unplanned depicts Abby Johnson’s journey from abortion clinic director to pro-life advocate.

Why do you think so many people came out to see Unplanned?

The success of the movie shows that people have this innate desire for truth. The abortion industry and the media have convinced the American public that abortion is normal and that it’s just like any other medical procedure. In the area of the sanctity of human life, where so many lies are being told, this film gave people a glimpse into reality. It gave them the truth, and the word spread. If you really want to understand what abortion is and how it affects women, see this movie.

I thought that only pro-life Christians would go see the movie. I was shocked by how many messages we received from firmly pro-choice people who went to see the film and walked out pro-life.

What opposition did you face making Unplanned?

When we were considering doing a movie, we knew that there would be opposition. Our prayer the whole time was that every single criticism, any negativity that was given to us, and any obstacle that was put in our way would be used for God’s glory. That is what we saw tenfold. We submitted the film to the MPAA, the group that determines ratings on films, and it shockingly came back rated R. But God used that rating to open people’s eyes. People were saying, “Wait a minute, my 16-year-old or my 13-year-old can’t go and watch a film about abortion, but she can go get an abortion without my knowledge?” The MPAA unknowingly showed our audience truth by admitting abortion is violent.

Also abortion doctors wrote an article saying the abortion scenes in the film are factually inaccurate. Former abortion doctors, who are now pro-life, wrote a response and said, “This is exactly what happens, and this is why we’re no longer part of it.”

Did any of the women that you previously worked with also decide to become pro-life?

I have heard from two women who I hired while I was the director at the clinic. They have both become part of my ministry And Then There Were None. When I worked for Planned Parenthood, I hired them. But now I’m helping to facilitate the healing that they needed after working there.

One of them got in touch with me right before the movie came out. She had heard my name in an advertisement for the film on a Christian radio station. She immediately looked it up, and she realized it was me, her former boss. She reached out to me and told me she became a Christian after she left the clinic. Now we can offer each other additional healing from the things we participated in. We can truly say that we have given all our past sins to God, and we are going to allow him to use it now for good.

How do you think the church can make a difference when it comes to abortion?

Many women having abortions are coming from churches. I think that’s due to embarrassment and shame. We treat women who get pregnant outside of marriage as a different kind of sinner. We’ve made it seem like the pregnancy is the sin, but a baby is never a sin, no matter how that baby comes to be. A baby is always a blessing. A baby is always a gift from God. I don’t think that the church has been a safe place for women to go. I think these young mothers with unplanned pregnancies have felt like they would be shamed and condemned. The abortion clinic’s doors are always open and accepting to young girls who feel afraid and ashamed. I don’t think they are getting that sort of openness from the church.

If you could talk to a woman right now who is considering abortion, what would you say?

I would tell her to find someone who can talk through her situation. I always encourage women to go to their local crisis pregnancy center. They will talk to you about all your options, and they will talk to you about abortion. But they will talk to you about the reality surrounding abortion. It’s not what you’re going to Google online. They are going to tell you what abortion is, and any woman who is considering abortion deserves to know the reality.

I would also encourage her to get an ultrasound at a pregnancy center. I think women who are in a crisis pregnancy need to see the life inside them, and they need to understand that when God created that life, he gave it to them as a gift. In the end, you can try to fix your problem by having an abortion, but you will never ever be able to remove the memory of that baby. Because once you are a mother, you are a mother for the rest of your life.

How does Genesis play into your worldview on the pro-life issue?

Genesis is the true story of life. It is how we came to be. If you look at the science and if you look at the evidence, it’s not even debatable at this point. I feel like that’s where we are in the pro-life movement as well. When you look at science and when you look at the empirical evidence, you see that science confirms that tiny little boy or little girl is alive.

Science falls on the side of creation. And that makes sense because all those things come from our Creator. So I think Genesis ties in beautifully. And if you look at how carefully our world was created, how life in the womb is created, you see that it isn’t random. It’s very intentional because God is very intentional.

The True Source of Hope

As women and men face unplanned pregnancies and as workers in these clinics come to realize the horror of what happens under their care, their only hope is in the message of the gospel and the sufficient grace offered through Jesus’ sacrifice alone. Answers magazine encourages you to find ways to engage this issue alongside ministries that preach the gospel as they seek to save unborn lives and call those in sin to repentance.

In March 2019, Unplanned debuted in theaters. The film garnered $6 million its opening weekend and grossed $19 million in sales overall. While it unsurprisingly received negative reviews, the film has been praised for its stark depiction of abortion.

“Unplanned is not an easy film to watch. But it is an important one, because it pulls back the veil on a conversation about abortion that’s often cloaked in sanitized language. It is impossible to unsee that reality once you’ve witnessed it onscreen.”
—Focus on the Family

“Its resounding success, despite its low budget and controversial subject matter, stems from its willingness to expose the unmistakable reality of what takes place in every abortion procedure.”
—The National Review

Unplanned is available on DVD.