On January 23 ,1973, when the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in the landmark case Roe v. Wade, President Nixon remained mum on the decision — publicly, that is. In private conversations, tapes released this week recorded by secret microphones in the Oval Office from January and February 1973, reveal Nixon expressing both ambivalence and shocking racism. He worried that easier access to abortions would foster “permissiveness” and that they would “break the family.” But he acknowledged that “sometimes an abortion is necessary,” like “when you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding, “Or a rape.” Wha?? I wonder what he’d say about our current “black and white” president. Keep reading »
