Dr. Bernard Nathanson is personally responsible for 75,000 abortions. He is the co-founder of NARAL — the National Abortion Rights Action League — and for years ran the largest abortion clinic in the world.
Today, Nathanson is a leading life advocate and has traveled the world sharing his message through books, documentaries and lectures.
"As a scientist, I know, not believe, know that human life begins at conception," he wrote in his book The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life.
Nathanson spoke to CitizenLink about his profound change of heart:
1. How did your journey begin?
In January 1971, I took over directorship of the largest abortion clinic in the Western world. We were doing 120 abortions every day, including Saturday and Sunday. I had 35 doctors working under my direction and 85 nurses, and it was an explosive, enormous place and extremely busy. The revenue in those days was $6 million a year from just doing abortions.
2. How did you go from director of the largest abortion clinic to a leading advocate for life?
In 1973, we began to move to new technology, principally ultrasound, which was revolutionary in our understanding the human fetus and when life begins. As a result of that technology, and others such as electronic fetal-heart monitoring, I began a long, slow process of changing my mind on the subject of inhumanity of the fetus and the ability of our society to protect that humanity. In 1979, I published a book called Aborting America. From there on, I became a regular participant in speaking to pro-life groups around the world, particularly governmental organizations such as the French senate, the Canadian and English parliaments, the Italian government and so on.
3. Tell us about your documentary, The Silent Scream.
In 1984, I became curious about what actually happens during an abortion. So, I prevailed upon a friend of mine who worked at an abortion clinic to put on the abdomen of the women an ultrasound apparatus to give us an ongoing, filmed presentation of what happened during an abortion. That film — The Silent Scream — was viewed more widely than any documentary in history. It is said that President Reagan, when he saw it, cried.
4. With growing scientific documentation of preborn life, how can groups like Planned Parenthood continue to spread a pro-abortion message?
To say that the fetus is just a chunk of tissue is to demean status of the fetus, to deny it dignity and to legitimize a violent act of destruction of another human being. In order to go about this massacre of unborn human beings, the pro-abortion people have to have some semblance of argument which they pervert into demeaning and denying the humanity of life in the womb.
5. What can people do to fight the pro-abortion agenda?
The pregnancy counseling centers where they show The Silent Scream and other ultrasound films are very effective in bringing to women the humanity of the fetus. But largely, the question falls into the political realm. That is (why we) must work to elect pro-life leaders in the Senate, the House of Representatives and in the White House, and assure that whoever's in the White House appoints pro-life judges to the Supreme Court. That’s where we are bound to make the most progress.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Dr. James Dobson spoke with Dr. Nathanson during a Focus on the Family radio broadcast.
