Quick Apology: “What about pregnancy in case of rape?”
Today marks the final most in my series of articles to mark the March For Life. I’d like to end with a post concerning one of the toughest situations concerning abortion: pregnancies which are brought about by rape or incest. Such cases, according to Planned Parenthood accounts for less than 1% of abortions. Today I would like to explain in humility how I try to respond when this difficult issue is raised.
Objection
It is not unusual to find people who are against abortion, but who grant an exception for these “hard cases”. For example, I have heard the following:
“Don’t misunderstand me, I think abortion is wrong, but I can’t say I’m fully pro-life. I think that if a girl gets raped and finds herself pregnant, she should be able to get an abortion, otherwise she’d have a constant reminder of what happened to her for the next nine months. It just seems cruel to force her to go through with the pregnancy. Would you really expect her to raise the child of her rapist?”
How might you respond to this understandably emotionally-charged objection?
Response
When pro-life advocates respond to pro-choice objections, there is a great emphasis on logical consistency and reasoning. However, particularly when the subject of rape is raised, this can have the unintended consequence of making the pro-lifer appear unfeeling and clinical.
Therefore, throughout the abortion debate, but especially when the subject of rape is raised, I think it’s important to communicate a genuine compassion and empathy prior to offering the logical rebuttal. We need to show that we understand the tremendous trauma of such an event and the great burden which has now been placed on the woman without her consent.
Why is abortion wrong?
When someone tells me that he thinks abortion is wrong except in the case of rape, I usually postpone discussing the question of rape and instead first spend a little bit of time asking that person why he is generally against abortion.
The person will usually explain that he recognizes that the unborn are defenseless human beings who therefore should not be killed. If that is the case, I will ask if any of this changes as a result of the circumstances of the conception. Is the unborn child any less defenseless? Is the unborn child any less human?
The truth is that the child conceived in rape is just as valuable as the child conceived in love. Here is a one of many signs I saw at March For Life last year:
The woman holding this sign was not responsible for the circumstances of her conception.
How many victims?
I think it’s also important to take a step back and ask ourselves why rape is such a terrible crime. It’s awful because an innocent person has her body violated in an act of violence by a stronger aggressor. Given this description, is abortion really that different? The act of rape made one victim, but abortion makes another, compounding the first act of violence with another.
If a rapist is brought to justice, he will not receive the death penalty for his horrendous felony. Does it seem reasonable that the child, who has committed no crime and never asked to be conceived, to receive a punishment which even the rapist would not receive?
The solution of abortion
We have to recognize that, before we even begin discussing the woman’s options, that she is in an appalling situation. No course of action is going to be easy and without consequence. Regardless of what she chooses to do, this woman is going to need counseling, as well as lots of love, care and support from all those around her as she rebuilds her life.
If a woman conceives a child through rape, what are her options? Well, she can either take the child to term or she can have an abortion. The pro-lifer is simply advocating the non-violent solution to a problem which was brought about by violence.
Against the prospect of nine months of pregnancy, abortion may seem the “easy” way out. All the rape victim needs to do is have a quick medical procedure and then she can finally put the whole, horrible business behind her. This will seem the better option, particularly as the woman tries to come to terms with the trauma that she has experienced. She will certainly doubt whether or not she will be able physically and mentally to carry the child in her womb for nine months. Won’t it just be a constant reminder of what she suffered?
However, abortion is not the panacea it promises to be. The woman has already endured the emotional trauma of the rape and undergoing an abortion will only compound it all the more. She will endure the consequences of her decision long after she has left Planned Parenthood.
It is surprising to find out that only half of pregnant rape victims choose an abortion. 32.2% raise their child and 5.9% place the child for adoption. Those who choose life rarely reject their decision, whereas regret appears to be more common among those who chose abortion.
Nobody pretends that carrying a child conceived in rape would be easy or without struggle. However, in comparison to the violent alternative, it is the better and more healing choice. I would encourage you to read the stories of those who considered abortion but in the end chose life, even in situations where the child was conceived in rape:
Finding help and healing
If you have undergone an abortion, I would strongly encourage you to reach out to groups such as Rachel’s Vineyard, Rachel’s Hope, Abortion Changes You, … These are people who will do everything within their power to help you heal in the wake of an abortion. If you are considering the possibility of having an abortion, they will also be able to help you and offer a better a choice than abortion.
https://youtu.be/c6HO0oP6fdU
David,
First, this has been such a great series. Thank you for putting so much time into it for us!
Secondly, I think you offer some great reasoning on this objection. I am wondering how often it is effective in getting some one to seriously consider it and change their opinion?
This particular objection is one that is almost too difficult to overcome when the person bringing it is simply looking for a moral way out of the abortion dilemma. It is too emotionally charged and it is the silver bullet argument for pro-choice people. Not discounting any of your reasoning here, but my tact is to turn the tables, and put it right back on them:
“Rape is definitely a tough one. What do you do? You and I both agree that killing the baby doesn’t seem fair, but forcing the mother to carry the baby doesn’t seem right either. I agree with you that is a dilemma with no easy answer. But let me ask you this: Would you vote for a bill that made abortion illegal in every case except for rape?”
If they answer yes, then you can simply say “So would I, and that would reduce abortion by 99%.” If they say no, then you don’t really have to deal with this objection, because it really isn’t the main thing. They don’t really care about the answer and they are just using it to end the discussion.
Thanks 🙂 There are a few more posts I’d like to do at some point in the future, but I’ll give the Internet a break for the time-being 🙂
It’s awfully hard to get someone to change their mind after years of society programming (“It’s a woman’s choice” etc.), even if they know their arguments have been proved to be faulty and they can’t refute the logic that is presented to them.
Yeah, this one in particular. This is why I emphasize that we’ve got to let them see our compassion as well as our logic – we can too easily come off as cold-hearted.
Absolutely, I just picked the scenario in this post where the person says “I’m pro-life, but in hard cases…”.
I think the strategy you suggest is often effective at making the pro-choice advocate draw a line in the sand somewhere when they’re avoiding it e.g. “Would you support the abortion of a 8 month baby when there was no danger to the mother and nothing wrong with the child?”…and then slowly moving the time back – 7 months, 6 months, 5 months…
I’d say few but the most ardent pro-choicers would say that an 8 month old child should be killed for no reason. Once they’ve said this, you can then ask the important question: why do you not think that should be allowed?
Great series, RP. You gave a premise from the very first: a fetus is a human being. You stuck to it without wavering, and it really makes the subject clear. As soon as I saw your title today, I asked myself, “If a mother had a toddler that had been conceived through rape, would I vote to allow her to kill the toddler any time he/she became too much of a reminder of her tragedy?”
Thanks Paul 🙂 Yup, that’s the the exact strategy I suggested in one of the early posts 🙂
I appreciate that you address how much compassion we need to enter this discussion with.. I have a very dear friend who endured this situation (became pregnant as a result of rape) while she was in college. She chose to carry the child and give her up for adoption. She remains one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. It’s so hard to fathom the depth of courage that a decision like that takes, but the repercussions for life (both hers and the baby’s) only bring more light into the world.
Thanks for sharing Bonnie 🙂