Bernard Nathanson
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Bernard Nathanson is a medical doctor and pro-life activist from New York.
Both his grandfather and sister committed suicide when he was a child.[citation needed]
As a younger man, he had been strongly pro-choice, and he performed an abortion on a woman he impregnated . He later gained national attention by then becoming one of the founding members of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America. He worked with Betty Friedan and others for the legalization of abortion in the United States. Their efforts essentially succeeded with the Roe v Wade decision. He was also for a time the director of the Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health (CRASH), New York's largest abortion clinic. Nathanson has written that he was responsible for over 75,000 abortions throughout his pro-choice career.
The development of ultrasound, however, in the 1970s led him to reconsider his views on abortion. He is now a staunch supporter of the pro-life movement. In 1984, he made the documentary The Silent Scream which showed an abortion from the perspective of ultrasound. His second documentary Eclipse of Reason dealt with late-term abortions. He has also claimed that the figures he once cited for NARAL concerning the number of deaths linked to illegal abortions "were a lie" [citation needed].
He has written the books Aborting America and The Hand of God. Although he grew up Jewish, he became a Catholic in 1996 through the efforts of a member of Opus Dei. Before that conversion, he had been divorced three times.[citation needed]
Dr. Nathanson has served as an expert witness in numerous medical malpractice cases. Although he has served as an expert on behalf of both defendants and plaintiffs, the vast majority of his efforts have been on behalf of the plaintiffs.[citation needed]
[edit] Works
- Aborting America, 1979
- The Hand of God, 1996
- The Silent Scream, 1984 (Documentary)
- Eclipse of Reason, 1987 (Documentary)
[edit] References
↑ Nathanson M.D., Bernard. The Hand of God. Regnery Publishing, Inc.: Washington D.C., 1996. pp. 58-59. (ISBN 0-89526-463-3) "In the mid-sixties I impregnated a woman...and I not only demanded that she terminate the pregnancy...but also coolly informed her that since I was one of the most skilled practitioners of the art, I myself would do the abortion. And I did."
↑ Nathanson M.D., Bernard. "Aborting America". Double Day & Company, Inc.: Garden City, 1979. pp. 193. (ISBN 0-385-14461-X) "I confess that I knew the figures were totally false, and I suppose the others did too if they stopped to think of it."
