Remembering Thomas
by Phil McCombs See Remembering Thomas Phil McCombs is a Washington Post staff writer. ©1995, The Washington Post. Reprinted with permission.
Volume 4
Men and Abortion, Grief and Healing
by Wayne F. Brauning, M. Div., D. Min. I have a friend whose father disappeared in Mexico. The loss has been more painful for him than if his father had died in his arms. How can one grieve for a father who has simply disappeared? For that matter, how can one grieve for a child […]
Restoring Fatherhood Lost
by Warren Williams Fathers become involved in an abortion in one of five ways: (1) they encourage or support the woman to choose abortion; (2) they pressure her to abort; (3) they abandon her to make the decision alone: (4) they unsuccessfully oppose the abortion; or (5) they learn about the abortion only after it […]
Forgotten Fathers and Their Unforgettable Children
by David C. Reardon, Ph.D. In the early seventies, Arthur Shostak accompanied his lover to a well-groomed suburban abortion clinic. They had both agreed abortion was best. But sitting in the waiting room proved to be a “bruising experience.” By the time he left the clinic, he was shocked by about how deeply disturbed he […]
Just Let Her Know You Love Her – A Poem
How ever can I explain it? Tell me, where do I begin, To try and justify the cause of just another sin? I remember the day she told me, and the fear within her eyes. I hid my love for you behind “it’s-your-decision” lies. How could I fight a verdict that she so quickly made? […]
Their Deepest Wound: An Analysis
By David Reardon Lorena Bobbitt’s abortion was unwanted. It violated her moral beliefs and signified the destruction of her dream to have a family just like the one in which she had grown up. It was an attack on her self-identity and her maternal self. By understanding how her abortion traumatized Lorena, we can understand […]
Catching Up Is Hard To Do
Life has been particularly hectic since the publication of Making Abortion Rare in January of this year. I have done more than fifty radio interviews, plus a television interview on NET, a leading cable station for conservative political views. The biggest public relations plum, so far, was a feature article in Newsweek, March 25, page […]
Abortion and Domestic Violence
By David C. Reardon, Ph.D. There is an important connection between violence in the womb and violence in the home. Certainly not every abortion leads to domestic violence, nor is every case of domestic violence rooted in the trauma of a prior abortion. But it is not a coincidence that the rates of abortion and […]
The John and Lorena Bobbitt Mystery, Unraveled
It was the trial of the decade. But the media frenzy over Lorena Bobbitt’s midnight mutilation of her husband John barely gave mention to a core piece of her testimony. She was a victim of forced abortion. Psychiatric experts for both the prosecution and defense agreed: her forced abortion contributed to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Elliot Institute’s Role in Uncovering the Bobbitt Mystery
By David C. Reardon, Ph.D. On December 12, 1993, I read a report stating that John Bobbitt had pressured Lorena into undergoing an unwanted abortion. Given the substantial number of cases in our files where women and men reported the onset of domestic violence post-abortion, I did not find this news at all surprising. The […]
Why the Truth Was Buried
David C. Reardon, Ph.D. There are many reasons why the defense team for Lorena Bobbitt chose not to fully explore the known relationship between Lorena’s abortion and her attack on John. Most of the following explanations were conveyed to me by principals in the case. First, the job of the defense team was to gain […]
A Story of Destruction: the Testimony
David C. Reardon, Ph.D. In 1988, Lorena came to the United States on a visa with high hopes for becoming married and raising a family here. When this 19-year-old girl met the handsome John Wayne Bobbitt, sharply dressed in a Marine uniform, she was more than ready to believe that he was the beginning of […]
Who Was Most Guilty in the Bobbitt Tragedy?
By David C. Reardon, Ph.D. After John and Lorena were both tried and acquitted, a reporter asked Lorena, “So, Americans want to know, who was the guilty party?” Without any hesitation or guile, Lorena answered, “We both were. We’re both guilty.” (Even in this answer, we may be hearing echoes of Lorena’s guilt over the […]
Women Who Abort: Their Reflections on Abortion
by David C. Reardon, Ph.D. Sit with me for a moment in the waiting room of an abortion clinic. Here you will find women who, in general, are neither philosophers nor fools–categories which admittedly include substantial overlap. Very few of these women have engaged in arcane debates about the meaning of “personhood.” Fewer still are […]
The Choices We Make
Case Study: “Jill Nolan” I was still 19 when I got pregnant living with a boyfriend (who is soon to be my ex-husband) in Detroit. Suddenly I was faced with “the CHOICE”. How I’d wished I could’ve been like the wholesome looking mother-to-be on the T.V. commercials. The one with a cute maternity dress and […]
Volume 4, 1996
Volume 4, Number 1, Winter 1996 Women Who Abort: Their Reflections on the Unborn A glimpse into the thoughts of aborting girls and women. The Choices We Make Jill’s story: “My boyfriend wanted nothing to do with me . . .” Volume 4, Numbers 2-3, Spring/Summer 1996 The John and Lorena Bobbitt Mystery, Unraveled […]