Lot 111

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Description:

Ronald Reagan
Washington, D.C., [ca. April, 1981]
Ronald Reagan as Pres Signed Thoughts on Abortion: "Isn't this what Hitler did…?" Incredibly Historic and Important
TLS
A superb typed letter signed with initials "RR", one page, 8.5" x 11", [n.p., n.d. but ca. April 1981], to Vance D. Bishop. D.D.S. With bold black indelible pen additions bearing incredible content and in fine condition.

In part: "...I thought a long time before answering your letter of April 18 and then I just couldn't let it go without replying. First, let me say I believe in birth control, but I believe that's far different than an abortion policy which, in my view, means the taking of human life. In the recent hearings before the Congress, some very eminent individuals from the medical profession agreed that they could not determine exactly when human life begins. It seems to me that until we make that determination, we must opt for the fact that the unborn child is alive until it can be proven otherwise. If you came upon a body and could not know whether the individual was dead or in a catatonic trance, I'm quite sure you would wait until you knew for sure that he was dead before you put him in a coffin. You wouldn't promptly bury the body. If we are going to make economic problems the basis for whether we take a human life or not, then wouldn't this lead to making a life or death decision after birth. Reagan then pens-In the following: "Isn't that what Hitler did with the infirm, the mentally ill and even the aged for economic reforms?". The text continues: "Legally the unborn have a right protected by law to own property", with Reagan again adding: "and yet we deny them a right to protect their lives."

Vance D. Bishop (1925-2007) was a dentist and oral surgeon in St. Petersburg, Florida.

As Governor of California, Reagan legalized abortion for victims of rape and incest, and in cases where a woman's mental or physical health was in danger. That law was among the first in the country to decriminalize abortion. However, by 1970, Reagan was also rethinking his stance on abortion, and, according to his daughter Patti Davis, "…his religious faith left him questioning when life begins." Reagan grappled with this question throughout his political career; however, in the wake of his being shot in 1981, he still held to the belief that abortion should be decriminalized in the cases of rape and incest, but this view would slowly change.

This document exemplifies Reagan's long struggle in an acute, emphatic and personal way by analogizing the legalization of abortion with Hitler's policies to "Aryanize" Germany and rid it of those who did not conform to the Nazi ideal.

At the time of its writing, the document indicates doubt in Reagan's mind: he poses the comparison of the legalization of abortion to the ethnic cleansing practices of the Third Reich in the form of a question -- "Isn't that what Hitler did to the infirm…"? -- versus a statement confirming the similarity. Further, Reagan's invocation of a "economic reason" to Hitler's "abortive" practices indicates a changing frame of thought that would come to fruition in the Pro-Life Act of 1988 and its prohibition of governmental funding of abortion.

In 1988, his Pro-Life Act brought to Congress sought to "…emphasize the urgent need to reduce the number of abortions in this country and to reaffirm life's sacred position in our Nation," and argue for the anti-abortion provision, the Hyde Amendment, prohibiting the funding of abortion "in general legislation." Reagan concluded with the statement: "None are more powerless than the unborn." Unlike Hitler's powerless members of society who were eradicated because they were thought to diminish the German race, Reagan sought to protect those powerless who may have been doomed to a similar fate: the unborn.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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    Dimensions:
  • 8.5" x 11"
  • Artist Name:
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Medium:
  • TLS

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