Abby Johnson, the woman who left a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic nearly two years ago, and who recently made her way to Lila Rose's anti-abortion group, Live Action - where she assumed the role of Chief Research Strategist - has challenged Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards to a debate.

LifeNews.com recently reported that Johnson sent a letter to Richards "requesting to engage in a public debate on whether the nation's largest abortion-performing organization should continue receiving taxpayer funding from the federal government. The House of Representatives has already approved the Pence Amendment, which would yank all federal funding from the abortion agency."

"I write to formally challenge you to a public debate, through a mutually agreed upon media forum, on the issue of whether or not Congress should continue to provide taxpayers' dollars to Planned Parenthood.  This issue has received a great deal of media coverage in recent days and weeks," Johnson opened.

"For many years I was part of the deception that taxpayer funds don't finance abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics, the deception that Planned Parenthood wants to reduce the number of abortions, and the deception that Planned Parenthood's highest priority is women's health and safety," Johnson said in her letter CNS obtained that went to Richards. "You continue to repeatedly perpetuate these deceptions and the public deserves to know the truth."

Johnson is also out promoting her book Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line which in part tells a fascinating story of her conversion from being in support of women's reproductive rights as the director of a Bryan, Texas Planned Parenthood clinic to being an anti-abortion activist.

As poignant as Johnson's tale is, it also appears to be riddled with a set of disputed facts and unanswered questions. What if the hub of her story is entirely false?

My recent BuzzFlash story about Johnson (http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12397) raised questions about her story's efficacy, based on the excellent investigative reporting of Nate Blakeslee of The Texas Monthly, who found that Johnson's story didn't match with the records of either Planned Parenthood's or the state of Texas.

Teddy Wilson, who runs a blog called "Left of College Station: A Liberal Voice in a Conservative Community," had a more personal recollection of Johnson. At buzzflash.com, he posted a response to my story, and suggested checking out his piece on Johnson's conversion, titled "Pro-Choice to Pro-Life: An Insider's Look Into the Conversion of a Planned Parenthood Employee," which ran on his blog on November 4, 2009.

His piece relates more germane information about Johnson, especially during the time of her conversion.

Wilson was a "volunteer escort" at the PP in Bryan, where Abby Johnson was director. In the course of writing about the period leading up to Johnson's conversion, he noted that his job was to "meet clients at their cars" and walk them into the clinic amidst the screaming, taunting anti-abortion protesters that lined the fence facing the clinic.

Wilson wrote: "The protesters outside of the facility will shout through the fence at the clients the entire time they are arriving and leaving. Also, the protesters will stand along the driveway holding brochures and pamphlets while attempting to get the clients' attention. The brochures and pamphlets include factually inaccurate information and intellectually dishonest claims. Often the false link between abortion and breast cancer is claimed in the literature, despite the fact that according to the American Cancer Society 'the scientific evidence does not support the notion that abortion of any kind raises the risk of breast cancer.' Also, the claim is made that women who have abortions will suffer 'post-abortion syndrome,' however, 'post-abortion syndrome' is not recognized as a legitimate medical condition by either the American Psychological Association (APA) or the American Psychiatric Association."

During that time Wilson met Johnson.  He wrote that he had "always known her to be an outspoken and an opinionated advocate of reproductive rights." He pointed out that "Johnson herself has been the victim of harassment, and even death threats."

During one of the Coalition for Life's "40 Days for Life" protests, which took place from September 23 to November 1, 2009, Johnson appeared on Wilson's radio show, Information Underground, aired on the local all volunteer radio station, 89.1FM KEOS. She also appeared on Fair and Feminist, another radio show on KEOS, which is hosted by two local feminist activists. "It was on these shows," Wilson wrote, "in the midst of what was her apparent conversion, that Johnson voiced strong opinions in support of Planned Parenthood and in opposition to the Coalition for Life," a local, vocal anti-abortion group.

Wilson pointed out that on his program, Johnson vehemently criticized the hypocrisy of protesters calling themselves peaceful and then "sending death threats and ... harassing and stalking some of our staff."

On Fair and Feminist, Johnson complained about the misinformation and disinformation spread by the Coalition for Life and some "crazy anti-choice church."

In addition, Wilson reports, Johnson, whose story revolves around resigning "after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure," told him that she resigned not because of "moral reasons but because of a disagreement with Planned Parenthood."

Wilson maintained that "the most compelling reason" he had for doubting Johnson's conversion "is because the extreme shift in views is such that it would require a complete reversal not only on abortion, but on the entire scope of reproductive rights. The Coalition for Life and their supporters are not simply against abortion, they are decidedly against all aspects of reproductive rights. A person changing from identifying as pro-choice to pro-life or from pro-life to pro-choice is not necessarily a surprising situation. ... However, the conversion from a staunch pro-choice advocate who works for a reproductive health care facility, to an outspoken pro-life advocate who now is involved with the very organizations that opposes not just abortion, but everything that encompasses reproductive rights, raises questions."

On February 24, in a response to an article at Christianity Today's her.meneutics blog titled "Live Action, Planned Parenthood, and a Year of Change" by Christine A Scheller, I raised the question about the truthfulness of Johnson's story, and I linked my response to the BuzzFlash piece. The following day, in response to my post, Scheller wrote that she had "invited Ms. Johnson to respond via twitter, but she hasn't replied."