A Silent Exit For the Dr Behind The Silent Scream

February 21 marked the passing of Dr. Bernard Nathanson.  Don't feel bad if you weren't aware.  The 84 year-old doctor who changed his mind, then collaborated on the 1984 film called The Silent Scream" passed on with remarkable silence.

Nathanson was trained as an obstetrician, but by the 1960's he became deeply involved with the debate over and practice of abortion.  He helped establish NARAL - the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.  After Roe v. Wade legalized abortion - he testified in favor of it - he established in New York City the largest free-standing abortion clinic in the world.  He estimates that he personally performed 75,000 abortions, including abortions on women pregnant by him.

Then came the ultra-sound.  The doctor watched an abortion as it was being performed.  The new technology of ultra-sound allowed him to observe the "fetus" as it was being pursued in the womb and then suctioned limb by limb to it's death.

Eventually, Nathanson narrated a 27 minute film of the procedure, so that all could see what he had seen.  You can see it for yourself on YouTube - click here - but be warned, I find it heart-rending, you must confirm you are over 18 to see it, and "the YouTube community" says it contains material that many find objectionable.  It landed like a bombshell in the midst of the ongoing abortion debate of the time.

Suddenly, Nathanson was the highest profile person to move from a pro-abortion position to a pro-life one.  Click Here to read more on his life.  The film, The Silent Scream, was highly controversial.  Still, it changed forever the facts of the debate.  Everyone could "see" an abortion from the perspective of the baby.  The beating hearts that never made it out of the procedure room were still silent, but they were no longer unheard.

As I've watched and participated in the debate over the years, I've been amazed to observe a number of high-profile defections from the pro-abortion camp.  Norma McCorvey - "the Jane Roe" in the Supreme Court decision - would cross the line in the mid-90's and pull back the curtain on the sordid back story on Roe v. Wade.  Click Here to read more of her story.  Most recently, Abby Johnson left her position with Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas and has much to say - to reveal really - about the business and practice of abortion in the United States as it really is.  Click Here to read more.  The thread that runs through each of these stories is a cold, hard look at the practice of abortion as it really is: How it is done, how it effects women, what was done to legalize it and more.

Now, in Virginia there is a legislative move to have stand-alone abortion clinics meet the same health and safety standards as any stand-alone minor surgery practice.  That the protection and safety of women would be a debatable point amazes me.  That such legislation would be considered "anti-abortion" tells me more about the forces that drive support of abortion than it does about the legislation itself.

The debate over the practice of abortion in the United States will obviously continue.  I for one do think that there are difficult issues embedded in this larger debate.  Freedom and privacy are indeed core values of the American experiment.  Conception by rape - while rare - is a situation that must be carefully considered.  A woman who has been raped is a victim once.  No one I know wants to make her a victim a second time.  But as it continues, we need to pay close attention to the realities involved, not just the convictions, opinions and positions of the people talking.  People like Bernard Nathanson, Norma McCorvey and Abby Johnson have helped us do that.