Former abortion provider turned pro-life advocate dies at age 74

Pro-life advocates are mourning the death of Dr. Haywood Robinson, a former abortion provider who became a leading advocate for the preborn after converting to Christianity.

Robinson died of heart failure July 25 at the age of 74, according to 40 Days for Life, an international pro-life organization.

After a 14-year career performing abortions, Robinson converted to Christianity and later served as director of medical affairs and education for 40 Days for Life, an organization that has helped save more than 26,000 babies from abortion.

In a July 28 tribute, Pregnancy Help News described Robinson's conversion as one that "beautifully illustrate[d] the transforming power of God's grace."

Leonore Schuetz, a 40 Days for Life leader, said Robinson believed the pro-life mission extended beyond saving preborn children, according to Catholic World Report.

“Robinson wasn’t on a mission just to save babies,” Schuetz said. “He strived to be Jesus’ words, hands, and compassion to rescue abortion workers.”

According to the outlet, Shawn Carney, president of 40 Days for Life, said Robinson's willingness to speak candidly about his years as an abortion provider set him apart within the pro-life movement.

“He had a unique impact,” Carney said. “He had the spiritual maturity and healing to effectively share the barbaric nature of abortion and the hell that he had come from.”

According to Pregnancy Help News, Robinson and his first wife, Dr. Noreen Johnson, recounted their journey from abortion providers to advocates for the preborn in the 2023 book The Scalpel and the Soul. After Johnson died in 2021, Robinson continued his pro-life ministry alongside his wife, Daphne, whom he married in 2023.

In a July 25 Facebook post announcing his death, Daphne reflected on her husband’s legacy.

“Protecting and advocating for the unborn,” she wrote, “and defending all vulnerable life created in the image of God was core to who my husband was.”

Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, a global network of pregnancy help organizations, reflected on Robinson's witness, according to Pregnancy Help News.

"Dr. Haywood Robinson was a tireless champion for the unborn and a living testimony to the redeeming power of Jesus Christ,” he said. “His life reminded us that God's grace is greater than our greatest failures and that redemption doesn't simply change a person's past, it shapes their future for His glory.”