Letter #173, 2021, Fri, Dec 10: The Nathanson Files, Tape #3

Above left, the late Dr. Bernard Nathanson (1926-2011) meets US President Ronald Reagan; center, Dr. Nathanson and St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta; right, Dr. Nathanson meets Pope John Paul II

    Here is the transcript of the third tape from The Nathanson Files:

    Tape #3 The Nathanson Files: The Catholic Strategy

    This is part three, in which Terry Beatley describes a propaganda strategy called The Catholic Strategy, which was a 4-part plan to “use Catholics with great effect”.

    Robert Moynihan: So, Dr. Nathanson, as he spoke to you, said he regretted that he had participated in a type of propaganda effort to depict abortion in a distorted way. How did this relate to the Catholic Church?

    Terry Beatley: In a huge way.

    Okay, they were based, NARAL was based in New York City.

    And they had just, in April of 1970, Governor Nelson Rockefeller had signed a very aggressive pro-abortion bill into law making abortion legal through all 24 weeks of pregnancy, in New York.

    The reason that is significant is because for 140 years New York had protected babies in the womb.

    Well, Lawrence Ladder and Dr. Nathanson knew they had a problem on their hands that this was a political victory.

    And New York had a lot of Catholics.

    So they had to figure out a way to deceive enough Catholic voters long term or this would get reversed.

    You know, enough people would rebel against it and making New York a pro-life state again.

    So part of this propaganda strategy was the Catholic strategy.

    They mapped this out in the late 1960s before even the 1970 pro-abortion law.

    So, that was called the Catholic strategy, which was a four-part tactical plan.

    Moynihan: What were those four parts?

    Beatley: The four parts, an easy way to remember it is B-E-S-S, okay.

    First one is they blamed.

    Lawrence Ladder, he counseled Dr. Nathanson, he told him, “We don’t have to go after everybody who is Catholic. We need to have a point of opposition.”

    And he said, “The ones to go after are the Catholic bishops.”

    Moynihan: Ah, so B for Bishops.

    Beatley: Yep. B for Bishops and B for Blame the Bishops.

    Every time a woman died or became sick due to complications of illegal abortions, it was blame the bishops, blame the priests, blame the Catholic hierarchy.

    They don’t know anything about women and family and all this.

    So, it was the blame game. They needed a point of opposition.

    And many of these words I’m using come from Dr. Nathanson, from his book called The Abortion Papers.

    And so, they developed this plan to “use Catholics with great effect,” direct quote from Dr. Nathanson.

    Second thing they did was they emphasized. They emphasized any Catholic politician.

    Moynihan: So, E for Emphasize.

    Beatley: That’s it. E for Emphasize.

    Emphasize any Catholic politician who was softening or weakening his or her position on the abortion issue.

    And it didn’t matter about what political party.

    NARAL, they wanted everybody to become pro-abortion.

    Democrat, Republican, Independent, name your party doesn’t matter as long as that person was pro-abortion, NARAL would embrace them.

    So that’s the B and the E.

    Moynihan: And then, we have the S.

    Beatley: The S is for Support and Split.

    Number one they would support any Catholic candidate who was running for office if he or she was pro-abortion or just weak on the issue.

    But equally they would split.

    They saw an opportunity… because of what Margaret Sanger had done in spreading her gospel of contraception for decades, remember she started back in the 1910s.

    So now we had had the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. And now we are into five decades of Margaret Sanger.

    And I find this fascinating that these two men out of New York City recognized that there was an opportunity to split Catholics into two camps.

    They knew that if Catholics were contracepting, that would be an easy push down the abortion slide versus the more orthodox Catholics.

    And they saw that as an opportunity.

    Moynihan: Okay, so Blame, Emphasize and Split. And what was the fourth S?

    Beatley: The fourth S is Straddle. The Catholic Straddle.

    So, again, Dr. Nathanson and Lawrence Ladder recognized they needed a political victory because if enough voters turned against legalized abortion, it would be their loss.

    So, they created what was called the Catholic Straddle, which was basically for Catholic politicians in public positions that they could be personally against abortion.

    They could see it as something that was quite abhorrent but believe and speak about this that every woman had the right to choose.

    And that this was a decision between a woman and her doctor.

    That was something they literally called the Straddle or straddling both sides of the fence.

    A direct quote from Dr. Nathanson was, they had to figure out a way to separate Catholic’s religious convictions from their legislative judgment. Okay. They had to split that.

    So, because for nearly 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has always proclaimed that abortion is an intrinsic evil.

    And I find it, again, amazing that these two atheist men in New York City knew that the Church would be their number one enemy.

    You know, they knew the Church’s position.

    So, again, just in a nutshell, it was Blame the hierarchy, Emphasize any Catholic politicians who are in support of abortion, Split Catholics into two camps, and then the Catholic Straddle.

        (to be continued)