Reagan Attacks ACLU: “I Wear Their Indictment Like a Badge of Honor”
President Ronald Reagan attacked the ACLU while speaking to the National Religious Broadcasters convention on this day.
Reagan reiterated his opposition to abortion and made it clear he was proud that the ACLU opposed him on the abortion issue.
When he was governor of California, however, Reagan had signed an abortion reform law on June 15, 1976, at the time one of the early state laws expanding access to abortions.
Reagan: “I was pleased last year to proclaim 1983 the Year of the Bible. But, you know, a group called the ACLU severely criticized me for doing that. Well, I wear their indictment like a badge of honor. I believe I stand in pretty good company.” [Laughter]
Read the speech: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40394&st=&st1=
Learn more about Reagan as president: Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (2000)
For a great perspective on the “long Sixties:” Tom Hayden, The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama (2009)
Learn more about the ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/