We held a fantastic workshop last week giving you the tools to Answer Pro-Choice Questions! A question that came up at the end was ‘what about abortion in cases of rape?’ It’s a question that pro-life people will get often enough that we thought it would be a good idea to put a response into a blog post.
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‘But what about in cases of rape?’
5 May 2020
It’s safe to say we’ve almost all been there. You have either tentatively or confidently stated that you are pro-life, and the response comes in either genuine bewilderment or an aggressive gotcha tone – ‘Even in cases of rape?’ It can be hard to answer, for we can all acknowledge the awfulness of the situation and the pain of the mother.
And so that is precisely what we should immediately do – acknowledge the awfulness of the situation. For contrary to what you may read, or be called, we are NOT and NEVER will be rape apologists. It is a terrible violation, and an awful crime.
But this is not the fault of the child conceived as a result of the heinous act. From the moment of conception they are just as human as you or I, and they are just as innocent. Why should they be forced to give up their right to life, and why should they pay for the crimes of their father? Rightly, there is no justice system on this planet that executes a child for the actions of their father. And so why should an unborn innocent being be any different in the cases of rape?
Jennifer Christie and her son
This is often followed up by the question of why a mother should be forced to bring up a child that reminds her of the rape. Look at the lives of mothers from rape, and children from rape. They are way more than just rapist’s children.
Take Jennifer Christie who was raped and conceived her son. She can tell her story much better than I can, so look it up, and follow her organisation Love Louder on Facebook. It will give you a whole new perspective.
“During a nightmare I couldn’t awake from, a child was conceived. This child had nothing to do with the attack on my body or the scars on my soul. He had everything to do with my healing – giving me a reason to hope. I did not save my son. He saved me.”
Similarly look up the powerful testimony of Rebecca Kiessling, conceived in rape and given up for adoption. She runs the movement Save the 1, reminding people that when they advocate for abortion in cases of rape, they advocate for the end of her life.
Rebecca Kiessling speaking for the 1% at the 2020 SPUC Youth Conference
And finally, question the narrative. As Jennifer Christie’s story shows, the pressure to abort in cases of rape is extreme. How can a woman want to keep a baby that would remind her of the rape? And so if we continually tell woman they will want an abortion in the case of rape, do we then create an atmosphere of you MUST want an abortion in case of rape? Will we reach the point where women won’t be believed if they’re raped but want to keep the baby? We will leave these questions with a quote from Miss C from Ireland, a 13 year old who was raped and forced to have an abortion.
“For me, it [the abortion] has been harder to deal with than the rape.”
Check out the key points from the talk below – just click on the arrow in the bottom left to go to the next page.
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