After completing his military service, he enrolled in the University of Arkansas, switching his planned major from business to pre-med in order to impress the woman he would later marry.
When told she was going to have a baby, she said, "Oh, God, doctor, I was hoping it was cancer" — words that stuck with Harrison throughout his career as a physician.
[2] Harrison had no qualms about becoming the only abortion provider in the area and frequently spoke in public about his defense of a woman's right to reproductive choice, saying, "I have chosen to ride this tiger unquietly, raking its side with verbal spurs, swinging my hat and whooping like a cowboy".
[1] In a 2005 profile in the Los Angeles Times, Harrison said that he had been encouraged by his wife to retire after undergoing surgery for a head injury, but as one of only two abortion providers in the state, he felt that "there's no one to take my place.
[1] As a physician, Harrison believed that there was a higher moral value to protect the well-being of a pregnant woman, but would not perform abortions during the third trimester of pregnancy, even in cases where the fetus is severely disabled, as infants at that stage of development are viable and can feel pain.
Harrison's practice in Fayetteville was a frequent target of anti-abortion protesters and his clinic was picketed, vandalized and even firebombed over the years, in addition to the death threats he received.