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Bernard N. Nathanson
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The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind Paperback – September 4, 2001

by Bernard N. Nathanson (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 207 ratings
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?A passionate account of the author’s transition from pioneer of abortion rights to champion of the pro-life cause.? This concrete and powerful contribution will be required reading for all involved in the abortion debate.” ?KIRKUS REVIEWS

?A wrenchingly honest book about taking the hard way to the truth. Bernard Nathanson provides a chilling tour of the moral squalor of the ?culture of death,’ and a compelling testimony to the possibility of beginning anew.” ?RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS, Editor-in-Chief, First Things

?In The Hand of God, Dr. Nathanson gives outstanding personal witness to the ?Gospel of Life.’ Amen to the Gospel; and Amen to this witness. I am personally privileged to have observed his journey and have been thrilled by every step along the way.” ? JOHN CARDINAL O’CONNOR

?When Bernard Nathanson exposes the abortion culture we listen, because Bernard Nathanson has been there. He was not only there, he led it. Now begins the long road back, led by The Hand of God.” ?JOSEPH M. SCHEIDLER, Director, Pro-Life Action League
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  1. Print length
    206 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Regnery Publishing
  4. Publication date
    September 4, 2001
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    089526174X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0895261748
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
207 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book honest, stunning, and blunt. They describe the story as fascinating, interesting, and enjoyable. Readers also find the book educational, enlightening, and thought-provoking. They praise the writing quality as well-written, plain-speaking, and extensive.

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HonestyStory qualityEducation valueWriting quality
16 customers mention "Honesty"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book honest, stunning, and blunt. They say it's a great account of Bernard Nathanson's life and conversion. Readers also mention the book is worth buying and a good biography.

"...An excellent book, highly recommended." Read more

"The truth behind this book makes it worth buying especially since this particular abortion doctor was instrumental in helping to get abortion..." Read more

"...Bernard Nathanson's book is stunning in its honesty. And to confess his change to the world is amazing...." Read more

"...It is a plain-speaking, intelligent, blunt book. Well worth reading.I thought about it for a long time afterwards. I still do." Read more

13 customers mention "Story quality"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the story fascinating, interesting, and enjoyable. They say it's a persuasive account of one of the founders of NARAL. Readers also mention the book is thought-provoking and educational.

"...beyond being a solid pro-life treatise, this book is also an enjoyable autobiography...." Read more

"I found that this book was very interesting reading and had great difficulty putting it down once I got started...." Read more

"The book is quite interesting but differs from what I gad expected given the title...." Read more

"...A true tale of hope." Read more

8 customers mention "Education value"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book educational, enlightening, and thought-provoking. They say it's an important resource for those involved in pro-life advocacy.

"...This book is an important resource for those involved in pro-life advocacy, especially with regard to the issue's history." Read more

"...have done an excellent job of providing summaries of this extremely powerful book, so I'll make just a few observations:1...." Read more

"...personal as well as scientific perspective is an important contribution to the abortion discussion." Read more

"...It is very enlightening on the issue of abortion. As he says, every life deserves to have the opportunity to reach its potential...." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book excellent. They say it's plain-speaking, intelligent, and blunt. Readers also mention that the vocabulary is extensive.

"...But while McCorvey's book is highly readable, this one is in a higher academic bracket. An excellent book, highly recommended." Read more

"...1. The book is very well-written. Nathanson is a doctor who is also an excellent writer.2...." Read more

"...wanting to revisit it, dictionary in hand, as he writes well above my literary expertise...." Read more

"This short memoir packs a punch. Well written and persuasive account of one of the founders of NARAL and his medical and moral journey from abortion..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Ana P
5.0 out of 5 stars I only wish I'd read this sooner
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is truly an amazing story written by a very intelligent man. One of the key founders of NARAL, the notorious abortion-rights group, tells his story into the abortion rights movement, and then out of it. What changed his heart? Ultrasound. How can one deny human life, coming face to face with it? But beyond being a solid pro-life treatise, this book is also an enjoyable autobiography. Nathanson's Jewish upbringing, his father (also an obgyn)'s strict background, all told with vivid imagery, I can feel myself walking the streets of Montreal with them. He examines his relationship with his father (whom he finds to be a study in self-contradiction) with just enough introspection. He seems to be honest with his own shortcomings: several failed marriages, an absentee relationship with his only son. His vocabulary is extensive, but it's usually not hard to figure out what he's saying if you can grasp the context. (Or, if you're really ambitious, read with a dictionary at your side.) Having read Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade)'s "Won by Love" recently, I thought this would follow in the same vein. In one sense, it does: two highly influential pro-abortion figures experience a dramatic change of heart and begin working to save tiny lives instead of advocating for the freedom to destroy them. But while McCorvey's book is highly readable, this one is in a higher academic bracket. An excellent book, highly recommended.
12 people found this helpful
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Thomas M. Loarie
5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Story about Dr. Bernard Nathanson’s Conversion from Pro-Abortion to Pro-Choice; from Jewish Atheism to Roman Catholic
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016
Verified Purchase
Bernard Nathanson, MD, was a founder of the pro-choice movement and a tireless crusader for the legalization of abortion. By his own admission, Nathanson presided over more than 60,000 abortions and personally performed 5,000 abortions himself. He co-founded the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), which later became the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and is now NARAL Pro-Choice America.

“The Hand of God” is Nathanson’s recounting of his journey from being a pro-choice activist to being a pro-life activist; from being a “Jewish atheist” to being a Roman Catholic. This book covers his remarkable odyssey – medically, ethically and spiritually.

Family life for him was tumultuous – no faith, no maternal love, phobias, fantasies and fears. His father fed the monster that Nathanson would become with utilitarian views of women. “Women were generally relegated to the back of the bus.” He was married four times with his first three marriages ending in divorce.

His introduction to the “satanic world of abortion” came while in medical school when his girlfriend had an unplanned pregnancy. He “selfishly” insisted on an abortion which destroyed the relationship. Questions from the girlfriend riddled the relationship: “Why didn’t he marry me? Why couldn’t we have had this baby? Why should I have had to imperil my life and my future children for the sake of his convenience and academic schedule? Will God punish me for what I have done by making me barren?”

Then there was another unplanned pregnancy with a woman who loved him very much. He himself performed the abortion. He destroyed his own child. He had no feelings aside from the sense of accomplishment and pride of expertise. Nathanson relates this to the gates of the satanic world of abortion being opened by his selfish narcissism and inability to love. He names this hell as the “suffering of one unable to love.”

He aborted unborn children of friends, colleagues, casual acquaintances and even teachers. “There was never a shred of self-doubt, never a wavering of the supreme confidence that he was doing a major service for those who sought him out.”

Nathanson’s journey continued uninterrupted until he had the chance to observe a real-time abortion with ultrasound. He soon came to regard the procedure as unjustified homicide and refused to perform it.

Once exposed to the truth of his “horrendous procedure,” he stopped doing abortions for any reason; dedicated himself to the fight against abortion; and revealed to the world the lies he and his abortion movement colleagues had told to break down public opposition.

In 1985, Nathanson employed the ultrasound to produce a documentary film, “The Silent Scream,” which energized the pro-life movement and threw the pro-choice side onto the defensive by showing in graphic detail the killing of a twelve-week-old fetus in a suction abortion. Nathanson used the footage to describe the facts of fetal development and to make the case for the humanity and dignity of the child in the womb. At one point, viewers see the child draw back from the surgical instrument and open his mouth: “This,” Nathanson says in the narration, “is the silent scream of a child threatened imminently with extinction.

With his change of heart, pro-life conversion and activism, Nathanson became a target for the anti-life forces, the subject of ridicule and satire, and the butt of jokes. He came to regard the taking of innocent human lives as comparable to Hitler’s Dachau, Stalin’s Gulag, or Pole Pot’s Cambodia.

He spoke publicly of what was soon to come as a result of the misuse of science and the lack of respect for the sacredness of human life: genetic manipulation, sex selection, surrogate motherhood, frozen embryos, cloning stem cell research, and the sale and use of body parts. He was a true prophet for what he predicted would happen.

Nathanson’s spiritual conversion followed his ethical conversion (to pro-life). Those in the pro-life movement had a profound impact on him. He also came to understand the Catholic Church’s position on life. The Church, which he attacked for years, stood and continues to stand virtually alone in the defense of the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death.

Fr. J.C. McCloskey who served as a spiritual mentor to Nathanson calls “The Hand of God” one of the most important autobiographies of the 20th Century. John Cardinal O’Connor who baptized him at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral commented “that the lack of respect for life is rooted in the lack of self-respect, and the lack of self-respect as a consequence of sin.”

“The Hand of God” shows the power of God’s grace as Nathanson confesses his own heartlessness in his role as a leader of the pro-abortion movement and then becomes an important force in reversing the blind acceptance of the procedure.
37 people found this helpful
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Pam Photina
5.0 out of 5 stars Moving testimony of death to life transformation of Dr. Nathanson.
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2024
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The story of Dr. Bernard Nathanson is, at times, very difficult to read because it describes experiences of women who were injured by surgical abortions and the incompetency and callousness of some involved in performing them. Seeing a surgical abortion performed while being captured on sonogram imaging opened Dr. Nathanson's eyes to the humanity of the unborn child and brought him to ardent pro-life advocacy. A spiritual conversion from atheism to firm belief in Christianity followed. Nathanson's own involvement with performing, overseeing, and advocating for legal surgical abortions was a source of extremely painful remembrance for him after his conversion, but was accompanied by the amazing grace and forgiveness of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This book is an important resource for those involved in pro-life advocacy, especially with regard to the issue's history.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Richie Speidel
5.0 out of 5 stars Life is a gift not to be halted lightly
Reviewed in Canada on July 12, 2019
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This is a powerful story of an issue that many have heard only one side of. Matheson has lived both.
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Paddy Early
5.0 out of 5 stars Bernard Nathanson
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2014
Verified Purchase
As a staunch Pro Life person I obviously heard about Dr. Nathanson.
His story is very empowering on many levels as someone who was a great sinner who realised the error of his ways and had the courage to completely change direction.
In summary Dr. Nathanson was one of the strongest proponents of abortion in the US prior to the Roe vs Wade case in 1973 and went on to run one of the biggest abortion clinics in the US after the legalisation of abortion.
But over a period of years having witnessed the untiring protests of Pro Life activists and also with the improved science of ultra sound technology he came to the realisation that abortion was real disaster for humanity.
His courage in becoming one of the staunchest Pro Life people was hugely inspiring- I believe unless he had been touched by the hand of God he would not have had such an enormous transition.
Any pro choice person who read this and had an open mind would I believe make a very similar transition.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on December 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
What a wonderful testimony. Couldn't put it down!
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