Help, Healing, Research, Education and Advocacy
By David C. Reardon, Ph.D. There is an important connection between violence in the womb and violence in the home. Certainly not every abortion leads to domestic violence, nor is every case of domestic violence rooted in the trauma of a prior abortion. But it is not a coincidence that the rates of abortion and […]
It was the trial of the decade. But the media frenzy over Lorena Bobbitt’s midnight mutilation of her husband John barely gave mention to a core piece of her testimony. She was a victim of forced abortion. Psychiatric experts for both the prosecution and defense agreed: her forced abortion contributed to post-traumatic stress disorder.
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 […]
While there is intense controversy regarding how many women experience post-abortion psychological problems, even pro-abortion researchers admit that at least some women are negatively effected. Moreover, according to the American Psychological Association’s 2008 Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion there are at least 15 risk factors that identify the women at greatest risk of […]
by David C. Reardon The American Medical Association has long supported legal abortion. Indeed, since 1972, the AMA’s amicus briefs to the Supreme Court have generously provided Justice Harry Blackmun and his cohorts with a “medical” justification for abortion on demand. The crux of this “medical” justification is the claim that abortion is “safe” – […]
As the director, secretary, receptionist, bookkeeper, and gopher for the Elliot Institute I have been involved in many projects, big and small. In addition to the major research and writing tasks, there are literally hundreds of smaller tasks in which I have been involved. Indeed, these smaller tasks seem to monopolize most of my time. […]
Pro-Woman / Pro-Life Campaign by David C. Reardon We know that between 30 and 60 percent of abortion patients feel they are being pressured into unwanted abortions. This is just one fact which offers us a new way to appeal to all people of good will. It also offers us the means to expose the […]
