Abortionist Who Powerfully Converted to Christ and Became a Pro-Life Leader Passes Away
Dr. Haywood Robinson, a former abortionist whose dramatic conversion to Christ made him one of the pro-life movement’s most powerful voices has passed away.
Robinson, who served as director of medical affairs and education for 40 Days for Life, has died of heart failure. He was a leading advocate who dedicated the latter half of his life to protecting the unborn and supporting families facing difficult pregnancies.
Robinson died over the weekend, according to an announcement from his wife, Daphne Robinson, and confirmation from Shawn Carney, president of 40 Days for Life.
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“Our dear friend, former abortion doctor, and 40 Days for Life director of medical affairs & education Dr. Haywood Robinson died of heart failure this past weekend,” Carney said. “While our hearts are heavy and filled with sorrow, they are also filled with joy. Haywood’s conversion is a testament to God’s mercy…and one that brings hope to pro-lifers standing up against the greatest evil in history.”
In a public statement, Daphne Robinson wrote: “It is with profound heartache that I personally, publicly, and officially announce the death of my husband, Dr. Haywood Robinson, MD. My Beloved was much beloved, admired and a friend to many. Protecting and advocating for the unborn and defending all vulnerable life created in the image of God was core to who my husband was.”
Robinson began his medical career doing abortions. During his family medicine residency in Southern California in the late 1970s, he learned the dilation and curettage procedure and, together with his first wife, Dr. Noreen Johnson, an OB-GYN, moonlighted at abortion facilities. They later moved to Texas, where they stopped doing abortions, but continued to refer women for abortions.
In March 1986, Robinson experienced a life-changing Christian conversion at a concert. He later described how God opened his eyes to the reality of abortion.
“One of the first things that the Lord did for us was to make us aware of our past and abortion,” he said. “Because what He wanted to do was to take us from darkness to light, from abortion providers to warriors in the pro-life movement.”
He and Johnson became outspoken pro-life advocates. They co-authored the book “The Scalpel and the Soul: Our Radical Transformation as Husband and Wife Abortion Doctors,” published after Johnson’s death in August 2021.
Robinson retired from clinical practice in 2019 and joined 40 Days for Life full-time as its director of medical affairs and education, a role he held for the past seven years. He traveled the country and the world, sharing his testimony, leading prayer vigils outside abortion facilities, and educating others on the medical and moral case for life.
In recent years he also served as director of continuum of care for Journey of a Lifetime, an organization founded by his wife Daphne that offers trauma-informed perinatal support to parents and families who receive a life-limiting or adverse diagnosis during pregnancy or in the NICU.
From the pro-life perspective, Robinson’s life stands as a powerful witness to redemption. Once a participant in the destruction of unborn children, he became a tireless defender of those same children, demonstrating that no past is beyond the reach of grace and that every human life, from conception, bears the image of God.
A Celebration of Life will be held Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Christ Church in College Station, Texas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Journey of a Lifetime.
