Ten Truths- Abortion

Coral Ridge Ministries
http://coralridge.org/
Dr. D. James Kennedy, Founder

From the 10 Truths Series
http://beta.coralridge.org/equip/10TruthsSeries/default.aspx

TRUTH #4 - The Pro-Abortion Movement Was Built on Lies
http://beta.coralridge.org/equip/10TruthsSeries/10%20Truths%20About%20Abortion/abortion-truth-4.aspx

Dr. Kennedy once declared, “Every evil system is based upon a foundation of lies.” Such is the case with abortion. The entire pro-abortion movement was founded upon lies and more lies.

In the 1960s, the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) launched a campaign to overturn all laws prohibiting abortion. Bernard Nathanson, co-founder of NARAL, now readily admits that the group’s members lied in order to gain media attention. “We simply fabricated the results of fictional polls,” he stated. “We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60 percent of Americans were in favor of permissive abortion.”33

“Back-Alley” Myth
In addition, Nathanson, who is now pro-life, acknowledged that leaders of the early abortion movement grossly exaggerated claims about women dying in “back-alley” abortions. During a luncheon with Dr. Kennedy, Nathanson confirmed that the vast majority of abortions performed prior to 1973 were not done with coat hangers in back alleys, as pro-abortion activists frequently insist. Rather, they were performed by unscrupulous doctors who couldn’t make a decent living in legitimate medical practice.34 Nevertheless, NARAL continued promoting this lie to the media. Nathanson explained, Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public. The number of women dying from illegal abortions was around annually. The figure we constantly fed to the media was 10,000. These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans, convincing many that we needed to crack the abortion law.35

That is exactly what happened. With crafty lies and clever slogans, NARAL quickly changed the tone of public debate. “I remember laughing when we made those slogans up,” recalled Nathanson. The lies did not stop. The two 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decisions that served to legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy—Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton—were also founded upon outright deceit.

Roe Based on a Lie
Norma McCorvey, the unnamed plaintiff in Roe, confessed that her entire case “was all based on a lie.” After abandoning her pro-abortion beliefs, McCorvey launched “Roe No More Ministries” and dedicated her life to overturning Roe v. Wade. In a letter to fellow Americans, she wrote:
I owe you an apology. I said I was gang-raped. And I wasn’t. I said I didn’t know who the father of my baby was. And I did. I said I wanted someone to kill my baby. And what I really wanted was someone to help me. It was a nasty, bald-faced lie. And I knew it…. For years abortion was my life, but the day-to-day stress of helping kill babies was eating away at my soul.36

Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion all the way to the point of delivery, was based upon another series of lies. Sandra Cano enlisted the help of an attorney, Margie Pitts Hames, to regain custody of her children. Without Cano’s permission, Hames then filed a federal lawsuit—using Sandra as an anonymous plaintiff—to legalize abortion.
In 2000, in hopes of overturning Doe v. Bolton, Sandra Cano submitted an affidavit, explaining,
[I was] seeking custody of my children and a divorce from my husband. What I received was something I never requested—the legal right to abort my child.… I never wanted an abortion; I just wanted my children back.… The facts stated in the affidavit in Doe v. Bolton are not true.… Doe v. Bolton was fraud. It’s based on fraud, and I’m a victim. I did not want abortion. I do not believe in it.37

Both Roe and Doe were founded on a web of falsehood and deceit. It is interesting and encouraging to note that Bernard Nathanson, Norma McCorvey, and Sandra Cano are now all actively working to promote the right to life of unborn children. Nathanson produced two gripping pro-life documentaries, The Silent Scream and The Eclipse of Reason. Tragically, however, the pro-death movement that began with outright lies and deceptions continues to employ the same false and fraudulent information today. The light of truth is needed to dispel the dark and deceitful arguments used for abortion.