The latest by book author and scholar Marvin Olasky, The Story of Abortion in America: A Street-Level History, 1652-2022, is dedicated to former Care Net President Guy Condon.
New Book Details History of Abortion
Olasky, a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute and an affiliate scholar of the Acton Institute, co-wrote the book with Leah Savas, a reporter at the WORLD News Group. In his part of the dedication, Olasky honored his wife Susan, founder of the Austin (Texas) Crisis Pregnancy Center, and Condon, who died in a car accident in 2000. Condon, 46, was driving home from a pro -life event when his car was broadsided by another car.
It is appropriate The Story of Abortion in America is co-dedication with Condon. The book helps the readers understand the history of abortion and its impact on American politics and culture, and help make the case for a holistic, biblically based approach to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Also, Care Net “sees a culture where women and men facing pregnancy decisions are transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and empowered to choose life for their unborn children and abundant life for their families.”
Also important to Care Net and its supporters, Olasky and Savas chronicle the work of early pro-life advocates and precursors to today’s pregnancy centers through the centuries leading to landmark cases Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Caseyand Dobbs against Jackson.
Roland Warren, the President and CEO of Care Net, called The Story of Abortion in America “an amazing work.”
“Olasky and Savas have made an important contribution to a subject that is both controversial and also crucial to understanding what America has become and what it will be as a nation in the future. This book is a reminder that history of our nation’s abortion is tied to its destiny, especially as we seek to offer compassion, hope, and help to those at risk for abortion and their vulnerable unborn children.
Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action, said the book explains how abortion has become “normalized” under the reign of Roe v. Wadehowever, “it’s not always like that in our country.”
Absolutely not. In a recent podcast, Savas said the first recorded abortion in America occurred in 1652 when Captain William Mitchell forced a procedure on his servant Susan Warren after she became pregnant. Mitchell was tried for his actions.
“What does that tell us about that time period and what they really believed about abortion?” asked Savas. “They saw it as murder. They saw the unborn child as a real person who deserved to be protected. It was not a political issue to them… Captain Mitchell was not allowed to hold public office, and had to pay huge fines. Community pressures against abortion have become very rare.”
Savas said people are often surprised to learn that abortion has been going on for so long.
“It’s a good reminder for pro-lifers that abortion didn’t start with Roe v. Wadeand it will not end with the fall of Roe v. Wade.”
Savas and Olasky, former editor-in-chief of WORLD Magazine, hope the book will debunk popular “myths” about the history of abortion, including one perpetuated by a majority opinion from Justice Harry Blackman when Roe v. Wade.
“Blackman asserts that abortion was acceptable in early America (1800’s) until the onset (which is about five months into pregnancy when the mother can begin to feel the baby inside her).”
In the interview, Savas also talked about his research with pregnancy center workermentioning how they believe that “Abortion is, ultimately, a problem of the heart.” And hearts can only be changed by meeting spiritual needs and by the power of the Gospel.
“It is very important to be the hands and feet of Jesus to women facing unplanned pregnancies—to serve them with material help, to show them the unborn life through ultrasound technology, to give them diapers and clothes for their babies and, and strollers and swings and all the material needs,” said Savas. “[But] the ultimate solution to the problem of abortion is not a law. This is not science. It is ultimately a belief in what the Word of God says and the willingness to obey God by loving him and loving your unborn neighbor.”
