Silent no more
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was a founding father of the pro-choice movement. He was a monumental figure in the decades-long struggle to legalize a procedure which, when performed in the shadowed, back alleys, had destroyed families by either killing expectant mothers or their children, or both. At least, that was the narrative abortion rights activists promoted.
Nathanson was a hero to every woman who marched, arms locked in solidarity with her like-minded sisters, under banners that heralded reproductive freedom and the right to 'choose.' Only Margaret Sanger played a bigger role in bringing abortion out of the shadows and into the light of a new and improved day. Nathanson had even aborted his own child, when a girlfriend became afflicted with one of those 'unintended pregnancies.' That's exactly what he considered an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy to be: an affliction.
Bernard Nathanson died late last month at the august age of 84. But you didn't hear any testimonials from Planned Parenthood about the wonderful work that he did. You didn't read any moving tributes to him from members of NARAL, the association he helped establish decades ago, when pro-choice became the new 'civil rights' crusade.
The reason you didn't hear from abortion rights supporters is that Dr. Nathanson had a change of heart, and became one of the most ardent opponents of abortion after he realized exactly what it was that was being aborted. A child. As noted by Professor Robert George of Princeton University in his article "Bernard Nathanson: A Life Transformed by Truth:"
In 1985, Nathanson employed the new fetal imaging technology to produce a documentary film, "The Silent Scream," which energized the pro-life movement and threw the pro-choice side onto the defensive by showing in graphic detail the killing of a twelve-week-old fetus in a suction abortion. Nathanson used the footage to describe the facts of fetal development and to make the case for the humanity and dignity of the child in the womb. At one point, viewers see the child draw back from the surgical instrument and open his mouth: "This," Nathanson says in the narration, "is the silent scream of a child threatened imminently with extinction."
This is the reason the pro-choice movement has disavowed any connection with Dr. Nathanson. Courage like his comes around once in a generation. It is not physical, although he suffered death threats similar to those directed at George Tiller. It was the courage of the spirit. And it has made his former comrades in arms uncomfortably silent.
Like that infamous scream.