Reagan biographer Lou Cannon. Fred Barnes wrote shortly after Reagan's death:
"In 1967, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a bill that virtually decriminalized abortion. At the time, Mr. Reagan was troubled by the passionate lobbying against the bill by Cardinal Francis McIntyre. But on the advice of two of his most conservatives advisers, Ed Meese and Lyn Nofziger, Mr. Reagan signed anyway."
"Within a year after signing the abortion bill, Mr. Reagan told political writer Lou Cannon that he'd never have done so if he'd been more experienced in office. It was 'the only time as governor or president that Reagan acknowledged a mistake on major legislation,' Mr. Cannon writes in his new book, 'Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power.'"
As the San Francisco Chronicle described:
"The California Legislature sent Reagan a measure in 1967 that legalized abortion in cases of rape and incest and when a doctor found that a pregnancy would endanger the life or health of the woman. Reagan agonized over the measure, fearing that doctors would exploit a mental heath loophole to approve many abortions. But in the end he signed it."
By any honest evaluation and analysis, Ronald Reagan never supported abortion on demand. As a newly elected Governor of California, Reagan reluctantly signed a bill which allowed the abortion exceptions of rape, incest and to save the life/health of the mother. As Lou Cannon stated, Reagan was obviously troubled by his decision and said it was a mistake. By 1968 Reagan was already becoming a strong pro-lifer. After the 1973 SCOTUS decision making abortion on demand 'the law of the land', Reagan came out in opposition to Roe v Wade. In 1983, Reagan went onto write his essay, "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation". A excellent defense of the pro-life position as seen the through the eyes of America's first pro-life President.