Why Rape Isn’t a Good Reason for Abortion

One of the stories coming out of the convention is that the GOP adopted a stance on abortion that was tougher than what John McCain has taken. Namely, the GOP platform does not believe that rape or incest is a valid reason (aka excuse) for abortion. Unfortunately, many pro-life advocates (and politicians) believe that any law limiting abortion should contain exceptions for rape or incest. Abort73.com presents the case against using rape as an excuse for abortion:

Let’s say the woman does carry her child to term and decides to raise her daughter herself. After five years, however, she decides that the little girl’s presence in her life is too much of a burden. Should that mother have the right to kill her five year-old daughter who was born to her as a result of sexual assault?

Obviously not. No matter what the circumstances are regarding the little girl’s conception, she is a human being with a right to life that cannot be taken away from her. But what about before she is born, does this change anything? No, it doesn’t. Abortion is an act of violence that kills a living human being. The circumstances surrounding the conception do not change this simple reality. Rape and abortion share this in common. They are both acts of violent assault against an innocent victim. Aborting a child conceived through rape simply extends this pattern of violence and victimhood. It does not “unrape” the woman, but it will almost certainly increase her regret and misery. Whereas rape is an act of violence for which she bears no responsibility, abortion is an act of violence for which she would be morally culpable. Consider the following email, received by Abort73 on January 19, 2007:

I just wanted to say that I am so pleased to read your stance on abortion in the case of rape. My mother was a 14-year-old girl who was raped, and she tried to have an abortion. The only reason I am alive today is because the doctor miscalculated her due date and thought she was too far in the pregnancy to have the abortion, when in reality he was a month off (this actually happened twice). It pains me every time I hear even die hard pro-lifers say “except in the case of rape”. I know it is traumatizing for a girl or woman that is raped to have to carry a child, but it is no more traumatizing than someone who gets shot during a violent attack and has to deal with those wounds. Counseling and therapy can help heal the trauma, but the trauma will be there whether she has the abortion or not, and the abortion could even make it worse. It has caused me so much anxiety over the years to think that many pro-lifers would have approved of my mother’s abortion. By the way, she gave me up for adoption, and my adoptive parents were never able to have children. Thank you so much for this wonderful view against abortion even in the case of rape.