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Jan 13, 2011

Jeff rated it:

Update: see bottom for update

In 2009 it made the national news that Abby Johnson the directory of a Planned Parenthood in Texas had resigned and went to the Coalition for Life for help. Now it was easy to celebrate this a a victory on the pro-life front and a mark in our column. It is easy to forget the person behind the story sometimes and the new book Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line by Abby Johnson More...

3 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Johanna rated it:

This book was an amazing journey and I felt like I got to experience the journey with Abby Johnson. As she was challenged to reconsider her beliefs on abortion, as was I. There were times when I wasn't exactly on board 100% with her but by the end of the book, I was completely on her team. The book was well written and well organized and I definitely didn't want to put it down. I'm proud of Abby for not being afraid to make public the good, the bad, and the ugly of her journey. Not many peo More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 20, 2011

Barbara rated it:

Unplanned is Abby Johnson’s testimony to what the Hand of God can do in your life. She tells the story of how she joined Planned Parenthood as a volunteer while she was still in college, and eventually made it to Director of her local Planned Parenthood clinic. Her story is not about how good or bad Planned Parenthood is, but how the Lord worked a miracle in her life and how He turned her life around and upside down.

She did not know it at the time but there were literally dozens More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Karen rated it:

Pathos defined.

That's not necessarily bad. Pathos has its place.

However, her emotional appeal has its skeptics, including four former co-workers, two friends, and a feminist radio talk show hostess out of Bryan, Texas. These people were very quick to speak out, and did, both to the media and in court. Apparently, Johnson had motive: she was mad at Planned Parenthood regarding an HR issue that put her on review, and she was having serious financial troubles. (Google the book More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Cafelilybookreviews rated it:

I watched the Unplanned documentary with a lump in my throat. This is a powerful story of one woman’s choices and how those choices led her to be pulled into not only the worst experience of her life, but also led her to become a spoke person for the unborn. Her description of what she witnessed during an abortion procedure in her clinic is very hard to listen to – but necessary.

Had Abby Johnson never worked for Planned Parenthood, she might not have the passion for life and t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Sarah rated it:

Unplanned is the story of Abby Johnson, who was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic and an employee of the year for them. Despite ten years of working in the clinic, counseling women and dealing with the administration of it, she never saw an actual abortion. One day she was asked to assist in an abortion and was never the same again. She saw the baby being pulled apart on the ultrasound screen and realized she couldn't be part of Planned Parenthood anymore.

One thing I liked More...

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Oct 03, 2011

Leslie rated it:

Abby Johnson's story is about her own growth process and unwillingness to view anything (especially herself) below the surface. She made her most important life decisions while floating along in a bubble of shallow conclusions that contain no consequences. There is much danger in believing our own stories that we weave and never allowing ourselves to think beyond what is easy and comfortable. She truly desired to help others and felt she could create a life of service in her career with Planned More...

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Sep 19, 2011

Loren rated it:

If you picked up this book in the hopes of encountering a bipartisan look on the issue of abortion, you've come to the wrong place.
Although the author majored in psychology she readily chooses to confuse feelings with facts, emotions geared justifications with logic and reason. She too heavily relies on her emotions and feelings to discern the rights and wrongs of her past, present and future leaving her depth of analysis void of validity. This woman has deeply ingrained psychological iss More...

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Sep 03, 2011

Susan rated it:

Abby Johnson was a 19-year-old junior when she attended a volunteer fair at Texas A&M and was recruited by Planned Parenthood. Raised in a Christian home, you might think she'd be reluctant to partner with an organization known to provide abortions, but Abby believed in Planned Parenthood's stated mission of offering health care, contraceptives and counseling to women in order to reduce the number of abortions, and the talking points and semantics used by Planned Parenthood were convincing. Furt More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Margaret rated it:

I heard about this DVD from a blog tour invite, but did not have the availability at the time to tour it. My friend Amy did however and she let me borrow it after she was finished. I was not sure how I would feel about it, but I was interested and trust pretty much most things that come from Focus on the Family with out a doubt. The documentary starts with explaining how Abby was just a normal good girl growing up until the pressures of college and things changed a bit. She never was really bad, More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Pam rated it:

I liked this book and read it rather quickly. Abby's story is interesting--not always easy to read but interesting. She probably won't be remembered as a great writer but I do think she felt called to tell her story and she experienced a sincere and sudden conversion of heart--I always find those stories compelling. I am solidly in the pro-life camp but I have friends who are pro-choice, so the book did not tell me anything about the two sides of the fence that I did not already know but I im More...

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Jun 27, 2011

Nora rated it:

My Thoughts -
UNPLANNED the DVD interviews ABBY JOHNSON, her family, friends, and co-workers. This was a great discussion builder. After watching this with my family we had a lengthy conversation about what is abortion and how Abby Johnson was deceived. She wanted to help woman like herself who got in trouble and saw no other way out at the time but abortion. She also was going to school to become a counselor to help people. Abby Johnson honestly thought the health care side of Planned Pare More...

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Jun 09, 2011

Jeannie rated it:

Rating: 3.5 stars

Plot (mild spoiler warning):

The subtitle for this book pretty much says it all. Abby Johnson started as a volunteer for Planned Parenthood. She had a great desire to help women, prevent them from getting in crisis situations, and to decrease the number of abortions. A recruiter working a Fair at Abby's college convinced Abby she would fulfill these desires by working with Planned Parenthood. As time progressed, Abby moved up the Planned Parenthood ladder More...

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May 25, 2011

Pamela rated it:

The word abortion polarizes people—you are either for it or against it. A line drawn in the sand; a fence metaphorically and literally that forces you to choose sides. It effects all aspects of life; personally, politically, monetarily and spiritually. Unplanned shows us both sides: an inside look by someone who has been on each side of that fence.

By the time Abby Johnson started college she knew she wanted to help women in crisis. During her junior year, at a volunteer opportunit More...

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May 05, 2011

Dianne rated it:

I was glad to read Abby's story of conversion from pro choice to anti-abortion, but I felt that the book was rather self-serving. She spends more than half the book defending why she could not see what was right in front of her. She says she did not realize until 2009 that abortion is the industry that makes planned parenthood all the money. I think most of the readers have known that fact for many years. She is an intelligent woman, and both her family and husband, albeit gently, have tried t More...

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May 04, 2011

Lifeverse rated it:

unPlanned by Abby Johnson is a dramatic autobiography about a former Planned Parenthood director and her eight-year journey from pro-choice to pro-life. This book is an examination of abortion from both sides of the fence and from Abby’s personal abortion experiences. While at times the book is difficult to read, the message is one to be embraced from both sides. Abby’s message is one of compassion. She viewed her own compassion for her clients inside the walls of Planned Parenthood, while at th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 04, 2011

Danielle rated it:

Abby Johnson grew up in a Christian home, raised to be kind and honest, to work hard, and to always do her best in school. She excelled in her Texas high school and excitedly went on to college at Texas A&M University. While there, she felt overwhelmed, as many young college students often do, and her choices began to affect her negatively. Abby began dating an older guy and became pregnant. She was confused and lost, unsure what to do or how to handle the situation. Her boyfriend wasn’t support More...

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May 01, 2011

Maureen rated it:

Abby Johnson quit her job in October 2009. That simple act became a national news story because Abby was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas who, after participating in her first actual abortion procedure, walked across the road to join the Coalition for Life.
Unplanned is a heart stopping personal drama of life-and-death encounters, a courtroom battle, and spiritual transformation that speaks hope and compassion into the political controversy that surrounds this issue. Tel More...

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Apr 28, 2011

Katie marked it as to-read

I had heard of Abby in the past, when her story made headlines... But I recently came across a review of her book on an adoption site I follow, and the more I read- the more captivated I was. I appreciate so much that this is not a woman painting a story of Good vs. Evil. She is working to helping us see the pain, helplessness, and hopelessness that leads many to abort a pregnancy. She is helping to debunk the culturally accepted attitudes of "MY body, MY choice..." to see the larger More...

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Apr 23, 2011

Leah rated it:

This true account is a very truthful, intelligent, and uplifting account of ones woman's journey with abortion, and spirituality. What makes this book so compelling is that she gives readers insight to the question: "Why do so many Christian women get abortions? and "Why are so many "good" or "religious" women pro-choice?
She really unveiled for me the truth that many women who volunteer or work for planned pregnancy truly have compassion for women. Her ow More...

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Mar 11, 2011

Debbie rated it:

Abbey Johnson was the director of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Bryan, Texas until the day she walked off the job and sought refuge at the Coalition for Life offices down the street from that clinic. She tells the story of how she went from naive college student, wanting to help women in crisis situations, to Planned Parenthood Employee of the Year and director of one of their most successful abortion clinics in just eight years. When she was called to assist at an ultra-sound guided a More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 28, 2011

Ruth rated it:

If I was known for brevity in book reviews, my review to this book would be only one word long: Wow! However, I'm not known for brevity, so I'll say more.

This was a treadmill book--one I would only let myself read while walking on the treadmill. I walked for an hour and half last night and thirty-five minutes tonight, and I would have stayed longer if necessary to finish this book. Abby's story is powerful. She wasn't a horrible person bent on the destruction of life when she sta More...

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Jan 16, 2011

Melissa rated it:

This book tells the fascinating, sobering true story of the journey of Abby Johnson. She worked for Planned Parenthood, believing she was helping women and decreasing the amount of abortions. She was a professed Christian. All the while she worked there, her parents, her husband, and even the workers on the opposing side, the Coalition for Life, were praying for her and loving her. She became friends with some of those peaceful pro-life members, and God used them to help change her mind. Can More...

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Jul 20, 2011

Dimity rated it:

I have several pages of furiously scribbled notes from reading this memoir but I’m just going to pitch them and sum it up because anyone reading this book because they are pro-life probably doesn’t care about my thoughts. So here’s the barebones review with minimal soapboxing.

This book is not very well written, the author’s attempts to be seen as sympathetic make her appear weak and easily manipulated and there’s plenty of misleading language and embellishment. Basically, it was a More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 04, 2011

Shelly♥ rated it:

I had not heard of Abby's story when it happened, but had heard of this book. Abby Johnson was a Planned Parenthood clinic director and pro-choice advocate until one day she witnessed an ultrasound assisted abortion. Not long after that, she finds herself across the street at the Coalition for Life office, with a change of heart.

I would say that I enjoyed parts of this book. In the first chapter where she details her day assisting in an abortion...I don't even know what to write a More...

1 comment like

Jun 19, 2011

Kayla rated it:

This is the true story of Abby, a Planned Parenthood director who went from very Pro-choice, to very Pro-life. It is written by Abby and I'm sad to say Abby is not an Author. She's not a very good writer, and isn't really that great of a storyteller. But, if you can get passed all that, this story is quite fascinating.

I was very disappointed to learn that in 2009, Planned Parenthood ordered their clinics to do MORE abortions as a way to pad their bottom line. The exact quote is " More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 27, 2011

James added it

First of all, I read this book in one day, in under 5 hours. I had planned to do some needed homework; I didn't. I couldn't stop reading it. This, despite the fact that a lot of this book is geared towards [Myers-Briggs] ENFPs, and I am almost the complete opposite.

This book is a memoir from Abby Johnson, a Texas small-town girl caught up into the perfidious world of Planned Parenthood, 'making wrong choices with the right reasons.' Abby devoted eight years to the cause, and became a profession More...

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Dec 10, 2011

Chris rated it:

First, a warning, Unplanned is not a book for the feint of heart. It contains graphic written imagery of the ugliness of abortion both from an observer and a patient's perspective. I would not suggest this book for anyone below a sophomore in High School and even then, that will depend on maturity level. However, I also think that everyone, pro-choice and pro-life alike, who want to get a true perspective from both sides of the abortion fence should read this.

Unplanned was a roller- More...

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May 08, 2011

Sasha rated it:

Obviously, going in, I was well aware of the message a book like this would push. No surprise that ANY story in which an individual goes from pro-choice to pro-life would be heavy in God mentions. However, despite her effort to argue differently (in the introduction), the author was definitely very self-serving. She did an excellent job at painting herself as a helplessly misled, wide-eyed doe who was, in no way, aware of her surroundings. I call shenanigans. I'd also like to point out to anyone More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Deacon Kyle rated it:

I have read many different types of books. No type of book, other than Scripture, has moved me as much as the confession. The first time I read St. Augustine's confessions I was in awe at his self-reflection and his honesty. I have not read another in this genre (I believe it has very few constituents) until I read Unplanned by Abby Johnson. Most might not put said book in the genre of confession but rather in the broader genre of say, autobiography, but I would beg to differ, due to the con More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)