Resignation of Planned Parenthood Clinic Director in Bryan

Unless you follow the news in Bryan, Texas closely, you probably haven’t heard about the news that the Abby Johnson, director of the local Planned Parenthood clinic, resigned and is now claiming to have had a “change of heart.” As an escort, volunteer, and friend of Abby, I was shocked at the news. I wrote a blog about it on my good friend and fellow escort’s site here: leftofcollegestation.com
Now the story has been picked up by large media outlets, including Fox News and antichoice people across the world are decrying Abby as their heroine.
A few short weeks ago, Abby was my heroine. When I first met Abby, I was touched by her stories about growing up in an anti-choice, Christian home, coming to feminism, and fighting for women’s rights in the most anti-choice town in the nation. We had similar backgrounds, similar stories, and I was inspired by her bravery.
It was then I asked her to appear on my radio show, Fair and Feminist, with my co-host and I to talk about the controversial clinic in town.
Her interview, about a week before she left, can be found here:
livestream.com/fairandfeminist
I remember that as Vandy and I conducted the interview, I started tearing up from the moving stories she told about being harrassed, about caring about “every person” who came in the clinic, and about her outstated commitment to feminism. It can be lonely being a feminist activist at Texas A+M, and a breath of fresh air filled the studio that night as we chatted with Abby. After the show, she gave me a sympathetic smile for the tears, and a nice hug.
And now, “the change of heart?”
I don’t know how you devote 8 years of your life to something like Planned Parenthood and then up and join the group that you disparaged everyday.
I don’t know how you move from defending women’s rights to protesting at people’s doctor’s office.
A few weeks ago, I organized a prochocie rally with other key prochoice allies in town. There are so few of us here. No one heard about it, the media refused to report on it. The local newspaper won’t publish my “letter to the editor” about it.
Its disheartening to me to see how the media is making her into a prolife darling. There are lots of rumors going around about what happened, including rumors about money changing hands or an employee who is angry. I don’t know about all of that, but what I do know is that no matter what, Abby can’t go back in time and undo all the good she did for the women during her 8 years at Planned Parenthood.
-Shelly Blair,
co-host, Fair and Feminist on KEOS 89.1
twitter.com/fairandfeminist