GQ Column on Norma McCorvey Can’t Tell Truth from Falsehood

GQ columnist Laura Bassett uses the news about Norma McCorvey — that the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade apparently renounced her renunciation of abortion at the end of her life — to say that the pro-life movement is based on lies. Any gigantic and decades-long social and political movement will of course feature some lies and some honest falsehoods. That’s true of both the pro-choice and the pro-life movements.

A central argument for abortion liberalization before and since Roe has been that 5,000 to 10,000 women were dying annually from illegal abortions. Bernard Nathanson, a founder of NARAL who later switched sides on the issue, confessed that he knew at the time this claim was false. That lie remains influential in today’s debate. The main argument from supporters of abortion during the legislative debate over partial-birth abortion, meanwhile, was that it was a rare procedure undertaken only in cases of severe health problems. Ron Fitzsimmons, the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted that he had “lied through [his] teeth” in making that claim. I can’t think of any equivalent lie from the pro-life side; but these lies from pro-choicers would certainly have to be registered in any full accounting of the contending forces’ relative honesty.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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GQ columnist Laura Bassett uses the news about Norma McCorvey — that the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade apparently renounced her renunciation of abortion at the end of her life — to say that the pro-life movement is based on lies. Any gigantic and decades-long social and political movement will of course feature some lies and some honest falsehoods. That’s true of both the pro-choice and the pro-life movements.

A central argument for abortion liberalization before and since Roe has been that 5,000 to 10,000 women were dying annually from illegal abortions. Bernard Nathanson, a founder of NARAL who later switched sides on the issue, confessed that he knew at the time this claim was false. That lie remains influential in today’s debate. The main argument from supporters of abortion during the legislative debate over partial-birth abortion, meanwhile, was that it was a rare procedure undertaken only in cases of severe health problems. Ron Fitzsimmons, the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted that he had “lied through [his] teeth” in making that claim. I can’t think of any equivalent lie from the pro-life side; but these lies from pro-choicers would certainly have to be registered in any full accounting of the contending forces’ relative honesty.