First published at 07:18 UTC on December 1st, 2023.
In March 1983, OB-GYN and former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson sat down with Canada's notorious abortionist Henry Morgentaler to discuss complex issues surrounding abortion on CHCH's television program "Cherington". In this c…
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In March 1983, OB-GYN and former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson sat down with Canada's notorious abortionist Henry Morgentaler to discuss complex issues surrounding abortion on CHCH's television program "Cherington". In this clip, Nathanson addresses abortion in instances of rape.
Dr. Nathanson was a top leader in repealing abortion laws in New York and a founding member of NARAL (under a different name) in 1969. He was director of the world's largest abortion clinic in NYC in 1971 and '72. (Personal note: He delivered my niece in 1973. Only after seeing him on The Phil Donahue Show a few years later did my sister realize her obstetrician's notoriety!)
Dr. N. was an atheist who eventually could not live with the "tensions of the 'moral whipsaw' of both aborting and delivering babies". It was "becoming intolerable" and he later became seized by an "unremitting black despair”’ which led eventually to his Christian conversion. (The quoted phrases are Nathanson's words, according to Trevor Stammers' review of his book, "The Hand of God" published in 1996.) Though he became pro-life in the mid to late 1970s, he did not become a Catholic until 1996.
Before "The Hand of God", Nathanson wrote "Aborting America" (1979), exposing how he and several others---including Betty Friedan---used outright lies to gain public support for repealing abortion laws. (These lies are detailed in the book.) It's an astonishing admission and this book is one of the best kept secrets in the western world. It has been out of print for some time, but is readily available at www.amazon.com for under $3.
"The Hand of God" is subtitled, "A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind." It is a vividly frank memoire. Both books are well worth reading.
Dr. Nathanson died from cancer in 2011 at the age of 84.
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