Bernard Nathanson, abortion provider turned pro-life activist, dies
By Emma Brown
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, an obstetrician who estimated that he was involved in 75,000 abortions -- including one in the 1940s for his then-girlfriend, who had become pregnant with his child -- before he became a leading pro-life activist, died Monday of cancer in New York. He was 84.
Dr. Nathanson operated an abortion clinic in New York during the 1960s and 70s and helped found the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, now called NARAL Pro-Choice America, in 1969.
New ultrasound technology provided images, he said, that changed his mind about the morality of abortions. He performed his last such procedure in 1979 and became a high-profile anti-abortion lecturer and campaigner.
In the mid-1980s, Dr. Nathanson narrated "The Silent Scream," a film that shows the abortion of a three-month-old fetus in graphic detail and was screened at the White House by President Ronald Reagan.
Dr. Nathanson also produced "Eclipse of Reason," a film about late-term abortion, and wrote several books, including "Abortion Papers: Inside the Abortion Mentality" (1983) and the 1996 autobiography "The Hand of God."
"I know every facet of abortion," he wrote in his autobiography. "I helped nurture the creature in its infancy by feeding it great draughts of blood and money; I guided it through its adolescence as it grew fecklessly out of control."
Born into a Jewish family in New York, Dr. Nathanson converted to Catholicism in 1996. His wife, Christine Reisner-Nathanson, told the Associated Press that he had been vilified by both sides of the abortion debate:
"When he was an abortion doctor he was seen as a pariah by the medical community," she said, "and when he went pro-life he was scorned by the women in the pro-abortion movement."
A full obituary will be posted shortly.
Obstetrician , who provided abortions and then became an  activist, is dead at the age of 84. Nathanson died in New York; the cause of death was announced as cancer. During his time as an obstetrician he estimated that he was involved in nearly 75,000 abortions, about 5,000 of which he performed himself. He performed his last abortion in 1979; shortly thereafter he became an anti-abortion activist.

Nathanson opened an abortion clinic in New York City in the 1960s but had performed abortions beforehand. In the 1940s he completed an abortion on his then girlfriend who was pregnant with his child. In 1969, he became one of the founders of the , an organization that still exists today.

After performing his last abortion and becoming an anti-abortion advocate, Nathanson narrated ''The Silent Scream'', a film that showed a three month-old fetus being aborted. As well as films he also wrote books about abortion including his 1996 autobiography ''The Hand of God''.

His wife, Christine Reisner-Nathanson spoke about his change of views. She said, "When he was an abortion doctor he was seen as a pariah by the medical community and when he went pro-life he was scorned by the women in the pro-abortion movement."