Tip of the month – Pro-life Apologetics
Abortion: NOT even when the pregnancy is the result of rape?
“Opponents of abortion rights walk a fine line when they condone any abortion. Based on their own definition, they are guilty of being accessories to ‘murder’ in certain circumstances by accepting rape and incest exceptions.” This quote from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice shows that even they recognize the inconsistency of making exceptions to the pro-life position.
Sadly, sometimes people who otherwise believe that the preborn child deserves the right to life fail to see a preborn child conceived through rape as fully human. Yet an authentic pro-life position rejects abortion in any circumstances.
Human life begins at conception/fertilization. Pro-lifers take this fact seriously and understand it to mean that the person living inside the womb is as real as you and me.
It is wrong to discriminate against people who have been born because of the manner in which they came into the world. Therefore, it is also wrong to discriminate against preborn people by attempting to justify abortion in cases where the mother has been raped.
Before we go any further, let’s take a look at why some people think that abortion can be justified in the case of rape.
First, many people mistakenly believe that pregnancy resulting from rape is very common. For a number of reasons, however, only a small number of women become pregnant as a result of sexual assault. Why? Many factors affect female fertility. Not only does age affect fertility, but so does a woman’s natural cycle, which renders her able to conceive only approximately 4-6 days out of the month. Add to these factors severe emotional trauma, which may prevent ovulation. Factors affecting male fertility include sexual dysfunction and drug and alcohol use. It is estimated that, on average, only 0.49 percent—or one half of one percent—of women who are raped become pregnant as a result.
Some people believe in good faith that when rape results in pregnancy, abortion can remove the painful evidence of that rape. But will it? Will abortion erase the memory of the rape or heal the emotional and physical pain of the assault? Will abortion, in effect, erase the rape of a woman?
Hardly. Rape is an act of violence inflicted upon a woman. She is an innocent victim and this knowledge may someday help her come to terms with the rape and rebuild her life.
Abortion, on the other hand, is an act of violence that a mother inflicts on her own child. Through abortion, the mother becomes the aggressor and this knowledge may haunt her long after she has dealt with the rape. Therefore, abortion only re-victimizes women who have been raped. Anyone who thinks abortion is justified for rape victims should consider the following.
This new human being, who is uniquely the mother’s child, may well be the only good—the only healing—that will come to this woman from her rape experience. The woman deserves affirmation, love and time to recover from the assault.
Counselors who work with rape victims are familiar with the emotional trauma many women undergo as a result of rape. A woman often believes “that she is somehow tainted, dirty and dehumanized” and knows “that many will see her either as pitiful and helpless or as disgusting and defiled.” It has been reported that women who have had abortions often deal with exactly the same psychological symptoms as the rape victim: depression, guilt, low self esteem, uncontrollable sadness and withdrawal.
Thus, the so-called quick fix of abortion is condescending and can only serve to reaffirm the sense of helplessness and vulnerability. Attitudes projected by others and not the pregnancy itself pose the central problem to the pregnant victim. When the trauma of rape is compounded by the trauma of abortion, it is hardly possible that abortion will lessen the emotional impact of the assault.
Furthermore, it is a cruel irony that while a father cannot receive the death penalty for the crime of rape, his preborn child conceived in that rape can be executed without trial, jury or judge. Moreover, justice to the mother will not be achieved by sending her to the local abortion clinic to solve her problem.
Instead, a mother’s real needs must be met. If, for some reason, she cannot raise the child herself, millions of Americans want to adopt children. Therefore, she actually has numerous options to abortion. A perfect example of the adoption option is Frank Hermann’s story, "I owe my life to unconditional love."
Finally, think for a moment about your circle of friends. Can you tell just by looking at them how they were conceived? If one had been conceived in rape, would you treat him or her differently? I hope not. Regardless of how a life begins, each person is as valuable as the next. It is no different with preborn children’s lives. They are valuable because they are human beings. As abortion advocates know, pro-lifers would be hypocrites if they condemn the murder of a preborn child in one circumstance but allow it in another.