JUNE 28, 2026
Washington Examiner opinion piece links early abortion movement to population-control ideology through Bob Packwood and NARAL founders
Former Oregon Republican Sen. Bob Packwood, who died earlier this month, was eulogized by major newspapers as a supporter of abortion rights and women's reproductive legislation who was also forced to resign in 1995 following sexual misconduct allegations from more than 20 women. Packwood introduced a bill to legalize abortion nationally in 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade, and received the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood in 1979. Paul Ehrlich, author of the 1968 book The Population Bomb, also died earlier this year; his book cited Packwood's legislative efforts approvingly.
The Washington Examiner published a commentary following the deaths of former Sen. Bob Packwood and population theorist Paul Ehrlich, arguing that Packwood's support for abortion and contraception was rooted in population-control ideology rather than feminist principle. The piece contends that mainstream obituaries from The Washington Post and The New York Times framed Packwood as a contradictory figure — a supporter of women's rights who also sexually harassed women — but that the contradiction dissolves when his environmental and anti-natalist motivations are considered.
The commentary draws on Ehrlich's 1968 book The Population Bomb, which praised Packwood for introducing legislation to legalize abortion nationally and to restructure the tax code to penalize families with more than two children. The Examiner piece quotes Ehrlich as describing large families as a burden on "more responsible members of society," and notes that Packwood aligned himself on the Senate floor with Zero Population Growth, an organization the piece describes as rooted in the eugenics movement and now operating as Negative Population Growth.
The piece also profiles Larry Lader, identified as a co-founder of NARAL along with physician Bernard Nathanson. The Examiner states that Lader came to NARAL from directing the Hugh Moore Fund, a population-control nonprofit, and authored Breeding Ourselves to Death with a foreword by Ehrlich. Nathanson, who later became a pro-life advocate, is quoted as saying Lader's strategy was to recruit feminist leaders such as Betty Friedan to make abortion a mainstream cause. The piece notes that Lader's writings were cited in the Roe v. Wade majority opinion.