Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by The Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind

241 Pages·2013·1.96 MB·English

by  Bernard Nathanson

Praise for NEW FOREWORD BY THE REV. C. JOHN McCLOSKEY III
THE HAND of GOD
THE
“ A passionate account of the author’s transition from pioneer of abortion rights to
champion of the pro-life cause. . . . This concrete and powerful contribution will
HAND
be required reading for all involved in the abortion debate.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS T
H
“ A wrenchingly honest book about taking the hard way to the truth. Bernard
Nathanson provides a chilling tour of the moral squalor of the ‘culture of
E
death,’ and a compelling testimony to the possibility of beginning anew.”
—RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS
H

“ In The Hand of God, Dr. Nathanson gives outstanding personal witness to the GOD
‘Gospel of Life.’ Amen to the Gospel; and Amen to this witness. I am person- A of
ally privileged to have observed his journey and have been thrilled by every step
N
along the way.”
—JOHN CARDINAL O’CONNOR D
“ When Bernard Nathanson exposes the abortion culture we listen, because
Bernard Nathanson has been there. He was not only there, he led it. Now begins o
the long road back, led by The Hand of God.” f

—JOSEPH M. SCHEIDLER, Director, Pro-Life Action League G
A JOURNEY FROM DEATH TO LIFE BY THE
O
DR. BERNARD N. NATHANSON was co-founder in 1969
of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws ABORTION DOCTOR WHO CHANGED HIS MIND
D
(NARAL, later renamed the National Abortion Rights Action
League), and was director of the Center for Reproductive and
Sexual Health, then the largest abortion clinic in the world.
In the late 1970s he turned against abortion to become
a prominent pro-life advocate. Dr. Nathanson continued
to write and speak about life issues across the nation and
around the world until his death in 2011.
N
A
T
H
A
N
Jacket design by Lisa Pulaski. Jacket photo of S
Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam © Corbis. O
N
Distributed to the trade by Perseus Distribution.
LIKE REGNERY ON FACEBOOK BERNARD N. NATHANSON, M.D.
CURRENT AFFAIRS / BIOGRAPHY
AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER.
U.S. $16.95 CAN. $19.00
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page i
THE
HAND
GOD
of
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page ii
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page iii
THE
HAND
GOD
of
A JOURNEY FROM DEATH TO LIFE BY THE
ABORTION DOCTOR WHO CHANGED HIS MIND
BERNARD N. NATHANSON, M.D.
Original Copyright © 1996 Bernard N. Nathanson
Copyright © 2013 Adelle Roban
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be
invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclu-
sion in a magazine, newspaper, broadcast, or on a website.
First ebook edition © 2012
eISBN 978-1-62157-167-4
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
ISBN 978-1-62157-044-8
Published in the United States by
Regnery Publishing, Inc.
One Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.Regnery.com
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Books are available in quantity for promotional or premium use. Write to
Director of Special Sales, Regnery Publishing, Inc., One Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20001, for information on discounts and terms, or call
[phone].
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page v
For all those who have prayed for me—especially Fr.Paul Marx
(that saintly man) and Fr. Richard Neuhaus (his mind is a
national treasure).
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page vi
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page vii
Contents
Foreword ix
Chapter 1 The Monster 3
•
Chapter 2 My Father’s House 17
•
Chapter 3 The Pillar of Fire 37
•
Chapter 4 The Story of Ruth 49
•
Chapter 5 A Perfunctory Jew 65
•
Chapter 6 Poor and Pregnant 79
•
Chapter 7 The Statesman 87
•
Chapter 8 The Procedure 97
•
Chapter 9 TheAbortionist 105
•
Chapter 10 TheVector of Life 129
•
Chapter 11 The Silent Scream 145
•
Chapter 12 To theThanatoriums 153
•
Chapter 13 NothingWasted 163
•
Chapter 14 Abortion andViolence 177
•
Chapter 15 The Hand of God 193
•
Acknowledgments 203
Notes 205
Bibliography 207
Index 211
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page viii
HandofGod_p4.qxd:HandofGod.qxd 1/17/13 4:13 PM Page ix
Foreword
You are just about to read one of the more important auto-
biographies of the twentieth century.Through its several Eng-
lish editions and its over eight foreign language editions, The
Hand of God has been made available to countless millions of
readers in the Americas and has been translated into French,
German,Polish,Croatian,Lithuanian,Estonian,and Finnish.
The Hand of God ranks withThomas Merton’s Seven Storey
Mountain and Malcolm Muggeridge’s Chronicles ofWastedTime
as a book that our descendants,both familial and spiritual,will
turn to in order to understand both man’s inhumanity and the
possibility of redemption. Merton, Muggeridge, and
Nathanson, brilliant intellects all, came from atheistic back-
grounds and succumbed to many of the ideological and carnal
temptations of their age only to finish,through God’s grace,as
converts to the Catholic Church. I am sure that they would
agree with Hilaire Belloc’s words:“One thing in the world is
different from all others. It has a personality and a force. It is
recognized and (when recognized) most violently loved or