Help, Healing, Research, Education and Advocacy
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]