Nixon on Abortion

These revelations about Richard Nixon are morally repugnant on so many levels:

On Jan. 23, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing abortion in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But privately, newly released tapes reveal, he expressed ambivalence.

Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster "permissiveness," and said that "it breaks the family." But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases -- like interracial pregnancies, he said.

"There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white," he told an aide, before adding, "Or a rape."

UGH. (Via Ari Armstrong, who sent me the link in e-mail with the subject line "i hate nixon part 981." Seriously.)