Audio Abort73

Though J.K. Rowling's horcrux is a fictional convention—a literal rending of the human soul—it connects to the violence of abortion in a fairly straightforward way. Voldemort attempted to secure his own future by killing an innocent child. As you may have noticed, abortion promises much the same thing. Call it the freedom and autonomy of an unencumbered life. But even in this world, you cannot do...

Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was unequivocally devoted to eugenics, but was she a racist? Well, that's complicated. Lots of people have made her out to be a white supremacist, but there's not much evidence for the claim. Sanger's racism, if you want to call it that, was far more subtle—and progressive. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers...

Margaret Sanger was the founder of the birth control movement in America and the founder of the organization that became Planned Parenthood. She predicted in 1916 that it would only take two generations for birth control to eliminate poverty and mental illness—along with war, crime, ignorance, and disease. Four generations in, that vision hasn't been remotely realized. So why are we still all in o...

Did you know that Planned Parenthood was founded to combat abortion but now sells abortion? In fact, Planned Parenthood operates the largest abortion business in America—accounting for roughly a third of all abortions. Is that a problem? Its founder, Margaret Sanger, certainly would have thought so. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to...

No matter how familiar you are with the life and ministry of John the Baptist, there's a very good chance you've never given thought to one of his central offices. And it's one that has plenty of ramifications for the issue of abortion. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

Is it racist to suggest that the black community bears some culpability for its exceedingly high abortion rate—or is it racist not to? That's at the heart of the discussion in this episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

Abortion is sold as a result of (and remedy for) poverty. But what if that's backwards? What if the states most ideologically committed to abortion are the same ones that are in the worst financial shape? What if free birth control isn't leading to fewer abortions but more? Wouldn't that be surprising. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought deeply about the church's responsibility to oppose state-sanctioned evil. And he didn't just think; he acted—which cost him his life. Today Bonhoeffer is hailed for being one of the only German pastors to publicly stand against Hitler, but what would Bonhoeffer say of abortion? What would he expect men and women of conviction to do? This is a public episode. If you woul...

The authors of Freakonomics made headlines for suggesting that the legalization of abortion in the 70's led to significant crime reduction in the 90's—on the assertion that abortion was eliminating large swaths of future criminals from ever taking to the streets. The only problem is, their analysis was backyards. Abortion hasn't created better outcomes for born children; it's created worse. This i...

Global abortion statistics don't actually exist, but global abortion "estimates" are trotted out as if they were the same thing. Published by Guttmacher and given the stamp of approval by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, you might be surprised to learn that these wildly-inflated estimates have almost no basis in empirical data. Let's talk about why that is and what it means. T...

Linda Gordon is a long-time feminist author and historian. She has written the book on birth control. And what she tells us is revealing. Birth control is not the solution to abortion. It is the gateway to abortion. You cannot accept the one without the other. And vice versa. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit a...

Professor David Livingstone Smith wrote the book on dehumanization, but he left abortion almost completely out of the discussion. Why is that? Is abortion the one context in all of human history in which it is morally legitimate to dehumanize and destroy a group of demonstrably human beings? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus e...

There are essentially two types of charities in the world. Those that provide tangible services, like a soup kitchen, and those that provide non-tangible services, like a public school. And when it comes to evaluating their relative records of success, it's crucial you not mix these categories up. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to b...

Part one of this discussion made the assertion that no matter how many pragmatic benefits abortion affords, they still don't justify the mass execution of the most innocent and helpless members of the human community. In this follow-up, we look at the claim that outlawing abortion does not actually reduce total abortions. Is that true? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this wi...

The pragmatic case for legal abortion entirely avoids any discussion of right and wrong. Instead, it argues that restricting abortion leads to increases in crime, poverty, and unwanted births. Even assuming that is true, does it matter? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

How is it that people on both sides of the abortion debate claim Martin Luther King Jr. as one of their own? Well, there's a reason for that, which is what this episode is all about. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

Margaret Sanger didn’t worship God. She worshipped instead at the First Church of Birth Control. She was its founding pastor; she was its first and best evangelist. But more than 100 years after the publication of her book, The Pivot of Civilization , birth control has not delivered the utopia Sanger promised. Nor has it eliminated abortion, which is something else Sanger assured us it would do. T...

After conversion, is a Christian's job merely to make more converts? Or does God expect something more from those who bear his name? And what would he have us do about the widespread embrace of abortion? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

This discussion leans on the insights of Doug Wilson and C.S. Lewis to call for Christian engagement that is not bitter or cynical—but joyful. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

A look at Gandhi's collective teaching on artificial birth control, including a visit he received from Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

Some of the most notable recipients of the most notable prize for peace have eloquently affirmed the sanctity of human life, the unparalleled value of children, and the importance of protecting the vulnerable. Only one recipient explicitly connected those virtues to the opposition of abortion, but they all could have. And should have. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this wit...

Martin Luther King Jr. was killed before abortion was legalized in the United States, but he had plenty to say about the death of innocent children—and the culpability of a society that passively accepts those deaths in silence. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abort73.substack.com

It's by no means certain that abortion could have been legalized in America without Bernard Nathanson. Known at the time as the abortion king, Dr. Nathanson cofounded NARAL and performed tens of thousands of abortions in NYC prior to Roe . Then he became one of abortion's biggest opponents. His first book explained why he changed his mind. His second book— The Hand of God —explains how he came to...

Bernard Nathanson was the only doctor among the founders of NARAL and ran the largest abortion clinic in New York City during the early 1970's—which performed abortions almost around the clock on a scale never before seen anywhere else in the world. Then he switched sides and wrote a book to explain why. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce...