Shawn Carney On The Future Of The Pro-Life Movement Following The Passing Of One Of Its Titans

The leader and co-founder of a group seeking to end abortions around the world reflected on the state of the pro-life movement after the death of one of its most steadfast advocates — who began his career on the other side of the issue.

Dr. Haywood Robinson — who had been an abortionist for 14 years before becoming a staunch campaigner for the practice’s abolition — died of heart failure the last weekend of July 2026 at the age of 74, 40 Days For Life (“40 Days”) announced in multiple social media posts Tuesday. Shawn Carney, the president, CEO, and co-founder of 40 Days, said Robinson, who had served as the organization’s director of medical affairs and education, “was one of those rare characters who forced people to sort of take a side” on the issue of abortion.

“One of Haywood’s legacies was that he forced the issue because he had done abortions,” Carney told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) in an interview.

Robinson always stressed that, while people blame politicians and the media for abortion, “for some reason, medicine got off the hook,” Carney said.

The doctor told the nonprofit political advocacy group CatholicVote in 2024 that, when he was performing abortions, he observed some hospitals conducted the procedure “no more than 50 yards” away from the labor and delivery suite.

“So you’re killing babies in one part, and right on the same floor, you’re delivering babies,” Robinson told the organization. “I recognize, retrospectively, that it almost makes you godlike — the power to kill on one hand, and the power of life on the other.”

We are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend, Dr. Haywood Robinson, who died of heart failure this past weekend.

While our hearts are heavy with sorrow, they are also filled with joy. Haywood’s conversion is a testament to God’s mercy and one that brings hope to… pic.twitter.com/Q8fwPaBJrq

— 40 Days for Life (@40daysforlife) July 28, 2026

Carney told the DCNF that the group had taken Robinson on a trip to London during which he debated a female abortionist and cited embryology and the Hippocratic oath to make the pro-life argument.

“And she looked at him and said that was written by white men thousands of years ago, and he kind of laughed,” he said.

Robinson, a black man, was particularly outspoken on how the practice of abortion disproportionally affected his community. He was one of the founding board members of the Life Education And Resource Network (L.E.A.R.N.), which describes itself as “the largest, African-American, evangelical pro-life ministry in the United States,” according to its website.