Former Planned Parenthood clinic director to headline banquet

A former Planned Parenthood clinic director who now travels the world sharing the truth about abortion is coming to Omaha, bringing her pro-life message and previews of a movie telling her story. 

Abby Johnson will be the featured speaker at the All in Christ for Pro-Life Banquet, sponsored by Life Runners Feb. 22 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.

Johnson is the subject of the soon-to-be released movie “Unplanned,” taken from her book of the same name. 

“This is great timing for promoting the movie,” said Pat Castle, Life Runners’ founder and president. The movie will open on screens around the country, including in Omaha, March 22.

After working for Planned Parenthood for eight years, Johnson’s view of abortion changed the day in 2009 when she assisted with an abortion at her Bryan, Texas, clinic. Seeing firsthand what really happens in an abortion, she resigned two weeks later. 

She now helps other abortion facility workers leave the industry through her group “And Then There Were None,” which provides financial, emotional, spiritual and legal support. 

Life Runners, founded in 2008, works to end abortion through prayer and awareness, including events for runners and other forms of public witness, said Castle, a member of both St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion and St. Matthew the Evangelist in Bellevue.

With 116 chapters in all 50 states and 35 other countries, including four general chapters and 12 school chapters in Nebraska, Life Runners is the world’s largest pro-life group with more than 10,300 members, he said.

The Feb. 22 event – the group’s first-ever benefit – will raise funds for student Life Runners chapters. 

Life Runners members receive a blue jersey emblazoned with a cross and dove on the front and the group’s motto: “Remember the Unborn – Jer 1:5” on the back. Even if they never run in a race, they are encouraged to wear their jerseys in public on the first Wednesday of each month as a form of witness, Castle said.