Tapes Reveal Nixon’s View of Abortion
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24nixon.html?hp
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WASHINGTON — On Jan. 23, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down state criminal abortion laws in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But privately, newly released tapes reveal, he expressed ambivalence.
Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster “permissiveness,” and said that “it breaks the family.” But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases, such as interracial pregnancies.
“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding: “Or a rape.”
Nine months later, after Nixon precipitated the resignations of two top Justice Department officials and forced the firing of the special prosecutor looking into the Watergate affair, Ronald Reagan, who was then the governor of California and would later be president, told the White House that he heartily approved.
Reagan told the White House that the action — which would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” — was “probably the best thing that ever happened — none of them belong where they were,” according to a Nixon aide’s notes of the private conversation.
Those disclosures were among the revelations in more than 150 hours of tape and tens of thousands of pages of documents from the Nixon administration made public on Tuesday by the National Archives. The audio files were all posted online, as were a sampling of the documents, the rest of which are available in reading rooms.
end of exceprt
Source: The New York Times Online
Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster “permissiveness,” and said that “it breaks the family.” But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases, such as interracial pregnancies.
“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding: “Or a rape.”
Nine months later, after Nixon precipitated the resignations of two top Justice Department officials and forced the firing of the special prosecutor looking into the Watergate affair, Ronald Reagan, who was then the governor of California and would later be president, told the White House that he heartily approved.
Reagan told the White House that the action — which would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” — was “probably the best thing that ever happened — none of them belong where they were,” according to a Nixon aide’s notes of the private conversation.
Those disclosures were among the revelations in more than 150 hours of tape and tens of thousands of pages of documents from the Nixon administration made public on Tuesday by the National Archives. The audio files were all posted online, as were a sampling of the documents, the rest of which are available in reading rooms.
end of exceprt
Source: The New York Times Online
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unclecharlie
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Ugh! Now, lets what Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, had to say about Blacks and immigrants! You won't find any of her quotes repeated on Current, and you sure as hell won't find PP quoting her! Tricky Dickie was a bit of a loose cannon, eh?
- 2 years ago
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unclecharlie
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Nettle
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"When you have a black and a white... or a rape"
Ugh, that makes me sick. Like rape is an afterthought and far less important than two consenting people of differing color deciding to have a baby. :barf:
- 2 years ago
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Nettle
