Abortion after rape: A tragic response to a heinous act of violence

Many people who consider themselves “pro-life” also support ‘exceptions’ for the ‘hard cases’ such as rape and incest because they think it is a compassionate and merciful position — but is it?

POINTS TO CONSIDER

• Being consistently pro-life means the circumstances of a human being’s conception are not a factor in whether that human deserves legal protection.

• Dehumanizing children conceived in rape dehumanizes their mothers as well, treating them both as damaged.

• Many women who conceived as a result of rape have chosen to abort and regretted it, or conversely chosen life and found it helped them to heal.

A CONTROVERSIAL BILL

A Louisiana House committee recently voted 3-9 to reject a bill that would have removed protections for preborn children conceived in rape whose mothers are under age 17.

The bill, HB215, would have provided “exceptions to the abortion laws of this state to rape and certain sex offenses.” It would have applied to children under 17 and would not have required a police report, investigative report, forensic evidence, or prosecution for rape for a minor to qualify for an abortion. It stated:

Present law defines “abortion” and provides a list of acts performed by a physician that shall not, by definition, be considered acts of abortion.

Proposed law amends present law and provides that “abortion” is not the termination of a pregnancy that is the result of an act that constitutes any of the following offenses when victim is under 17 years of age: 

(1) Rape (R.S. 14:41). (2) First degree rape (R.S. 14:42). (3) Second degree rape (R.S. 14:42.1). (4) Third degree rape (R.S. 14:43). (5) Sexual battery (R.S. 14:43.1). (6) Felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile (R.S. 14:80).(7) Molestation of a juvenile or a person with a physical or mental disability (R.S. 14:81.2). (8) Crime against nature (R.S. 14:89). (9) Aggravated crime against nature (R.S. 14:89.1)

The bill was brought by Rep. Delisha Boyd, a Democrat who had previously testified that her mother was raped by an older man at 15 and became pregnant with her, giving birth in 1969. She said it was an act of “statutory rape” but that her mother struggled following Boyd’s birth and tragically died at age 28 from a drug overdose.

“She didn’t die in childbirth,” said Boyd, “but ultimately she lost her life because of what happened to her.”

Though Boyd said she does not regret having been born, she feels her mother lost her life so that she could live. She said that how her life turned out is an “exception to the rule,” implying that most children conceived in rape do not have good outcomes.

However, Rep. Patricia Moore, also a Democrat, shared that she, too, was conceived due to sexual assault when her mother was raped at age 14 in the 1950s. But she spoke out against the bill.

“I cannot be God,” Moore said. She added:

“As I got more mature in my faith, I just realized that no matter how you came in this world, whether it was rape, incest or whatever, God wanted you to come in this world and he’s going to provide for you. I look back at my life and I see He took care of me but it was not easy.”

Moore said her family never talked about it, but she knew that even though abortion was illegal at the time, her mother still had a choice to seek out an abortion. Instead, her mother gave birth and placed Moore with her great-grandmother.

Raped at Age 11, My Mother Became Pregnant With Me | Kathy Barnette

THE PRO-LIFE POSITION

While there are many subjective ideas about how to define what it means to be “pro-life,” there is only one that is consistent: innocent human beings in the womb should not be intentionally and directly killed for any reason.

Failing to protect human beings who are conceived in violent circumstances (over which they obviously had no control), or intentionally choosing to exclude those human beings from legal protections — not because they lack humanity but because their fathers lack morality and decency — is not a consistent pro-life position.

Being “pro-life” has nothing to do with the manner of a human’s conception at all. It’s about protecting that human’s inherent right to life once he or she has come into existence.

And when a woman conceives a child as a result of rape, there are now two innocent lives in the picture instead of one — two lives that must be cared for, protected, and respected. Contrary to popular opinion, society does rape survivors no favors by encouraging them to end the lives of their preborn children, who are often referred to in dehumanizing terms or even in terms of the violence perpetrated by their fathers (“rape baby,” “rapist’s spawn,” “demon seed,” etc.).

Viewing a child conceived in rape in such a manner treats both the preborn child and her mother (yes, this child is also her mother’s child, not simply a child of “the rapist”) as damaged, unacceptable, and unworthy. But that child is entirely innocent.

When Survivors of Rape and Children Conceived in Rape Come Face to Face

DOES KILLING HEAL THE TRAUMA OF RAPE?

The answer to rape is not to kill innocent children conceived in rape; it is to tighten laws surrounding rape and to create better resources and means of support for sexual assault survivors and children who are conceived due to sexual assault.

If Boyd carries a sense of responsibility for her mother’s death simply because she exists, she must come to understand that her own death by abortion would not have healed her mother from the trauma of abuse and rape. It is unclear what, if any, support Boyd’s mother received to help her heal — but many women who have chosen abortion after rape have shared that the abortion was also traumatic.

“I could never ever deal with my rape because I was so focused on what I had done in choosing abortion,” explained rape survivor Ashley Sigrest. “And that’s what people don’t understand when they tell rape victims, ‘Oh yes, have an abortion so that way you can go on and we can deal with the rape.’ But the abortion just makes the rape 1,000 times worse because now you have these two horrible events that you have to deal with.”

Lianna Rebolledo became pregnant after being raped by two men at age 12 — and she chose life. She told Live Action founder and president Lila Rose that girls who are sexually assaulted and become pregnant do not need abortions, but abortionists are eager to profit off of their trauma.

She added, “[Abortion] doesn’t help you. It’s just a double rape. That’s the way I thought about it, that it was going to be a double rape. And if I did that, I don’t think I would be alive today.”

Abducted And R*ped At 12 Years Old, She Embraced Life w/ Lianna Rebolledo

In cases of child rape, the assault survivor (depending on the state’s consent laws) is often too young to legally consent to sex — which would also be too young to consent to an abortion. In Louisiana, the age of consent is 17 — meaning that no one under 17 can legally consent to sex with anyone.

Beyond the psychological trauma that supporters of the Louisiana bill imply abortion will heal, there is the physical risk of a young girl carrying and birthing a child. Teen pregnancy carries risks of premature birth, higher risk of infant mortality, and of cephalopelvic disproportion (when the baby’s head is wider than the pelvic opening). But induced abortion, which carries risks of its own, is not the solution.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, teen pregnancy risks can be mediated by regular prenatal visits and healthier lifestyle choices. Cephalopelvic disproportion can be treated with a C-section. There are medical interventions available for every complication that can arise; intentionally killing a preborn child is not a medical treatment.

THE BOTTOM LINE: 

Ultimately, two Democrats sided with the seven Republicans on the committee to vote against the Louisiana bill and prevent it from advancing. Yet, as this is the third time such a bill has been introduced in Louisiana, it is likely that a similar bill will be brought forward in the future.

Regardless, human beings in the womb do not deserve to be intentionally killed for any reason, including the manner of their conception. Abortion is not compassionate for the rape survivor or the child.