Bernard Nathanson

Bernard Nathanson (born 31 July 1926 in New York) is a medical doctor and pro-life activist from New York. Nathanson graduated in 1949 from McGill University Facility of Medicine in Montreal. He has been licensed to practice in New York state since 1952. He became board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology in 1960.

Nathanson's grandfather committed suicide when Nathanson's father was a child. (Hand of God, p.6). Nathanson's sister committed suicide at age 49 (Hand of God, p.6).

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 stated that the numbers he once cited for NARAL concerning the number of deaths linked to illegal abortions were "false figures".

He has written the books Aborting America and The Hand of God. Although he grew up Jewish, he described himself as a "Jewish Atheist" and later converted to Catholicism in 1996 through the efforts of a member of Opus Dei. Before that conversion, he had been divorced three times.

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.

Works

 * Aborting America, 1979
 * The Silent Scream, 1984 (Documentary)
 * Eclipse of Reason, 1987 (Documentary)
 * The Hand of God, 1996