Newly Released Nixon Tapes Reveal Reaction To Roe V. Wade

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 25 Jun 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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President Richard Nixon, who was in office when the Supreme Court issued its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, in secret recordings from January and February of that year discussed his views on abortion with an aide, the New York Times reports. The comments were among more than 150 hours of tape and 30,000 pages of documents made public Tuesday by the National Archives' Nixon Presidential Library. The tapes were recorded by secret microphones in the White House's Oval Office.

Nixon in the tapes expressed ambivalence over the decision, as well as concern that increased access to abortion leads to "permissiveness" and that "it breaks the family." Nixon also said that he believed there was a need for abortion in some cases, including interracial pregnancies and rape. He said, "There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that." He added, "When you have a black and a white. Or a rape" (Savage, New York Times, 6/24).

Broadcast Coverage

NPR's "All Things Considered" on Tuesday reported on Nixon's abortion comments and political reaction to Roe at the time of the decision (Totenberg, "All Things Considered," NPR, 6/23).

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