Written by Kathy Clubb
27th June 2024
Although abortion has been around it seems since soon after the first humans began to sin, its legalisation throughout the twentieth century has taken the effect of this scourge to another level. Many wonder how such a widespread devaluing of life could have taken place and search for answers. Since we at FLI are concerned with the insidious effects of Freemasonry throughout our culture, it seems timely to investigate whether there is any link between that ideology and the spread of abortion. Although it may not be possible to establish a causal link, a little research reveals that there are nonetheless many ties between Masonry and the legalisation of abortion and contraception.
Former members of Freemasonry are rich sources of information about current anti-life legislation and policies and those who are willing to speak out do confirm that there is a strong link between Freemasonry and the push for progressive social agendas generally.
One of these is a former senior official of the French government, Serge Abad Gallardo. Gallardo is on record exposing the link between legalised abortion and progressive, Freemasonic parliamentarians. He states that, in France, Freemasonic politicians were responsible for having both the contraceptive pill and abortion legalised. Similarly, Freemasons initiated the legalisation of euthanasia and same-sex ‘marriage’ in that country.
Another French former Freemason agrees that in his country, Masonry is specifically aimed at promoting progressive social causes. This is an important point, as many Catholics today tolerate Freemasonry because it doesn’t seem to be overtly trying to destabilise the government. Yet it should be obvious that not all social harms are produced by outward revolution: immoral laws are also revolutionary.
The French President, Emmanual Macron, has himself been accused of Masonic membership, and the ritualistic overtones of his inauguration suggest this may be the case. Even if this is not true, his love of abortion is obvious: it was Macron who enshrined abortion as a human right in French law and who has been leading the charge to expand this new “right” across the entire EU.
Only last year, Macron expressed his gratitude to the Grand Orient de France, France’s largest lodge, for its members’ assistance in pushing forward euthanasia legislation. The finer details of the new law have yet to be finalised and it was reported that the Masons are disappointed that Macron hasn’t moved more quickly.
In the US Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City and also a Freemason, is another modern day example of the close ties between abortion and the Lodge. Adams has promised to fight for abortion to full term in that state. He is also a proponent of open-slather immigration, welcoming tens of thousands of undocumented illegals to stay in New York.
For two historical examples of American Masons who were proponents of abortion, one need look no further than Roe Vs. Wade. Thurgood Marshall, a Prince Hall Freemason, was one of the Supreme Court Justices who decided in Roe Vs. Wade to legalise abortion. In his other cases, Marshall was known to have dissented many times from judgements that sought to uphold moral laws such as those banning sodomy, assisted suicide and the sale of contraceptives to single people. Marshall is also on record as consistently voting against state laws which sought to limit access to abortion.
Even further back in US history is the famous Freemason and statesman, Benjamin Franklin. In the 18th century, Franklin, who was famous for his inventions and love of learning, produced an almanac for the American people which included advice on using medicinal herbs to produce an abortion.
Here in Australia, modern-day politicians and other prominent people are quite hesitant to make known their links to Masonry. Thus it is more difficult to prove that Freemasons have worked behind the scenes to enact legal abortion. However, it is possible to make some connections thanks to online records shared by Freemasonic organisations which name prominent Australians who are or were members of lodges. The most comprehensive list, which includes many Prime Ministers and Premiers, can be found at Lodge Devotion. Some of the members listed were still alive at the end of the twentieth century and so are helpful for our purposes. This makes it more achievable to show that oftentimes influential Masons have not actively worked to stop legal abortion.
For example, most readers would be familiar with the 1969 ruling in the Supreme Court of Victoria which allowed a doctor to provide an abortion on a woman he believed would be seriously harmed by the continuation of her pregnancy. This ruling by Justice Clifford Menhennitt in R v Davidson provided the toehold which led to the eventual decriminalisation of abortion throughout Australia. [There is no evidence to suggest that Menhennitt was a Mason, however, as a lawyer, he did defend a very famous one: the aviator, Reginald Ansett.]
At the time of the ruling, Henry Bolte was Premier of Victoria and according to our handy list of freemasons, Bolte was a member of the lodge. Although obviously not responsible for enacting this exception to the existing law, Bolte did nothing to oppose abortion. There is more to Bolte and abortion though and some interesting details which connect him to the Davidson case come from author Gideon Haigh.
In a 2007 essay, Haigh writes that although Bolte refused to clarify Victoria’s abortion law when urged to do so by his Liberal party executive, he was at the same time protecting an illegal abortionist from police scrutiny. That man was John Heath, whom Haigh writes had “operated with impunity since World War II.”
Under Bolte, the police were instead investigating another Melbourne abortionist, Bert Vanrenen, despite his support from very high places. Sir Robert Menzies, the former Prime Minister and industrialist Sir Robert Wilson Knox, both Freemasons, were close friends and supporters of Vanrenen. As an aside, Haigh writes that in the 1960’s, the leadership of Victorian police alternated between Catholics and Masons. When a Mason was in charge, illegal abortion flourished; when a Catholic was at the helm, there was a crackdown.
Haigh’s book on the history of the legalisation of abortion in Australia is also a source for studying links between Masonry and abortion. In “The Racket”, Haigh mentions that two of Victoria’s notoriously corrupt policemen, Jack Matthews and Jack Ford, were Masons. Matthews and Mason allowed illegal abortionists to work unhindered in return for protection money. One practice alone paid the pair £300 per month in 1960. [p 24].
“The Racket” also explains how an otherwise reputable medical doctor, Fenton Bowen, accepted kickbacks from an illegal, unqualified abortionist in return for referrals. Haigh writes that the two met weekly to go over their books, “ at Fenton Bowen’s Masonic Lodge. ” [p 153] When the abortionist, Charlie Wyatt, was reported to the police by an abortion insider who disapproved of his methods, Wyatt saved himself by agreeing to pay protection money to a police officer. That officer just happened to be the above-mentioned Freemason, Jack Matthews. [p 154]
In New South Wales, a similar legal situation surrounding abortion existed due to the 1971 Levine ruling. Like that of Menhennitt, an allowance was made for abortions in certain circumstances. The Premier at that time was Sir Robert Askin who was a Mason. Askin had come to power promising Christians that he would not overturn laws outlawing homosexuality and abortion. However when it came to actually enforcing the law against abortion, Askin’s police were notoriously hesitant to act.
One very surprising Australian Freemason was Edith Cowan, even more surprisingly this information came from an online ABC news article from January of this year. Cowan, Australia’s first female parliamentarian and whose portrait has been featured on our $50 note, did much work to improve the lot of women and children. While there is no evidence that she promoted abortion, she did implant a revolutionary feminist spirit into Australian society and was a promoter of contraception; the first step to the abortion mentality.
Another famous Freemason who had an enormous amount of influence on abortion in this country, albeit in an indirect way, was Harry “Fred” Whitlam. Fred Whitlam was Crown Solicitor from 1936 to 1949 and is remembered as a pioneer of international human rights law. As a Mason and a Christian, Whitlam brought up his children to believe that all gods are the same; one of those children was former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam.
Under Gough’s leadership, Medicare, then known as Medibank, began to cover the cost of elective abortions from 1974. His government was also responsible for making the contraceptive pill more accessible and in 1975, introduced no-fault divorce. Abortion, contraception and divorce: Gough Whitlam was responsible for introducing these three pillars which, whether he realised it or not, are all part of the Masonic platform to corrupt society.
Pope Leo XIII noted in Humanum Genus that in order for the Freemasons to enact anti-Catholic laws, they first attempt to introduce all kinds of vice to society:
“For, since generally no one is accustomed to obey crafty and clever men so submissively as those whose soul is weakened and broken down by the domination of the passions, there have been in the sect of the Freemasons some who have plainly determined and proposed that, artfully and of set purpose, the multitude should be satiated with a boundless license of vice, as, when this had been done, it would easily come under their power and authority for any acts of daring.” [Humanum Genus § 20]
It is only too clear, especially to those who labour to oppose abortion, how effective this strategy has been. Pornography, contraception, abortion, transgenderism and sexual abuse are rife in our ‘enlightened’ society in which man has been enslaved by his passions and, in Pope Leo’s words, in which souls have been ‘weakened and broken down’ by vice. Thus there is now little resistance left to those laws such as anti-discrimination legislation which are threatening the life of the Church. While not every Mason is pro-abortion and not all abortion is due to Masons, Freemasonry is one of the movements that has long been at work to weaken the moral foundations of society through influential members of the Lodge.
