Circumstances of conception shouldn’t determine whether someone lives or dies

During the Democratic National Committee’s meeting on October 6, Vice President Kamala Harris said that pro-life laws — specifically those protecting preborn children who are conceived in rape or incest — are “immoral.” Unfortunately, much of America agrees with her.

Harris told her audience, “After someone has survived a crime of violence to their body, a violation to their body … that they cannot have the authority to make a decision about what happens to their body next, that is immoral.”

A 2023 NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 70% of Americans believe abortion should be allowed at any time during pregnancy in cases of rape or incest — meaning that babies old enough to survive outside the womb could be killed simply due to to the circumstances of their conception, over which they had no control. In addition, a 2022 Pew Research Center poll found that 36% of those who consider themselves to be pro-life think it should be legal to kill preborn children conceived as a result of rape.

Being pro-life except for babies conceived in rape or incest indicates that the person holding that belief doesn’t truly think babies in the womb are living beings worthy of life regardless of the circumstance. Like rape, abortion is an act of violence done to a person’s body, in this case the preborn child’s body, and it is not the solution for rape, nor does it bring healing to the survivor.

Life begins at fertilization, no matter the circumstances of conception

Science is clear that from the moment of fertilization, a new human being comes into existence. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding her conception, every human being in the womb is a living, innocent person. Embryology textbooks do not state that only children conceived under certain circumstances are human and worthy of life. Science does not discriminate and neither should pro-life laws. Preborn children are either human or they’re not — and science proves that they are.

When a woman or girl suffers the unimaginable trauma of a sexual assault, she deserves support, compassion, and justice. Telling her she should kill her preborn child is not supportive or compassionate and does not win justice for her, and does a violent injustice to her child also. Research and personal stories regarding rape and pregnancy are evidence of this.

Pregnant from rape at 14, Crystal rejected abortion

Choosing abortion v. choosing life

Past research has shown that most women who become pregnant from assault did not want an abortion. One study found that 73% of women pregnant following rape chose life. A second study found that 75% of women chose life after conceiving a child during a rape.

Even more telling is what women who have had an abortion after rape have said. “There are no words that can explain this depressing, and anxiety feeling I feel,” said one woman. “Deep inside it kills me everyday knowing what I did was very stupid. I don’t think I could ever forgive myself. Not only does it haunt me but it’s very traumatizing knowing I did it.”

Another woman, who had considered adoption but ultimately had an abortion after rape, said, “I know you might be thinking well why did I still abort why not adoption? Well because when I told one of my family members that I chose adoption I got judged and criticized and got told I was a horrible person for even thinking that.”

One hundred women who became pregnant from rape and chose abortion were interviewed and 88% said they regretted their abortions and felt they had made the wrong choice. Ninety-three percent (93%) said they would not recommend abortion to someone in the same situation, and 43% said that they felt pressured to choose abortion by their family and/or by abortion workers.

The Pro-Life Reply to: "Abortion in Cases of Rape"

A woman named Christine told Live Action News, “In my mind, those days when the doctors dismembered my child in my body they not only killed my child, they raped me in the process. After I said no they ripped open my legs and inserted things inside me. So much for bodily autonomy. […] Institutionalization was pretty bad. Rape was pretty bad too. But the abortions were the worst.”

Women who choose life after rape, however, don’t typically report feelings of regret. Sharlene said, “I was 15, raped and pregnant. … My son did nothing wrong; he was just as much a victim of the rape as I was. … He is a blessing, not a curse, and he helped me heal from the rape…”

Paula, who conceived a son during rape, was told that her baby was the “spawn of Satan” and “the reason abortion exists.” But, she said, “He was the happiest baby I’d ever seen and has continued to be the most joyful child.”

Tricia said her son is “the greatest gift I’ve ever been given.”

The immorality of abortion

When an abortion is carried out on a child who was conceived in rape or incest, that child becomes the second victim of the assault. He doesn’t deserve to be killed. The assailant is the one who should face punishment. However, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), out of every 1,000 instances of rape, only 13 of the cases are referred to a prosecutor and only seven assailants will receive a felony conviction. Because of the low number of rape convictions, The Atlantic went as far as to publish a piece titled, “American Law Does Not Take Rape Seriously.” Meanwhile, Americans, even the Vice President, seem heavily focused on ensuring that innocent children conceived in rape are killed.

It’s not really about helping rape survivors

One percent of abortions are committed due to rape, and those pushing to ensure pro-life laws include exceptions for cases of rape are usually in favor of abortion on demand throughout pregnancy. In doing so, they are exploiting rape survivors — who may not even want abortions — in order to garner support for abortion on demand.

One recent example is Indiana abortionist Caitlin Bernard, who made headlines after she told the Indianapolis Star that she had committed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape survivor from Ohio. Bernard went to the press before she reported the rape to authorities, indicating that her priorities were not about protecting rape survivors or ensuring the assailant was arrested, but about promoting abortion.

Her focus was on Ohio law, which she claimed did not allow the girl to undergo an abortion, forcing her to travel to Indiana. While this was not accurate, the real concern is that this child was incapable of consenting to sex and was therefore incapable of consenting to an abortion. Yet, she was forced to go through one in the name of so-called reproductive rights — and Bernard used her to try to win people over to support killing innocent children in the womb.

Persons conceived in rape

There are countless Americans who were conceived in rape and can hear the comments that their very existence is “immoral.”

Juda Myers learned as an adult that she had been conceived in rape. Meeting her birth mother inspired her to start Choices4Life, an organization devoted to supporting the needs of rape survivors and their children.

“I started the organization because there was no other organization attending to the specific needs of those with rape conception stories,” Myers told Spirit-Led Women eMagazine. “Many are not believed and even shunned and insulted for being pregnant by rape.”

She continued, “Their babies are targeted for death. When they want to give birth they are told they must have ‘wanted it’ because who would want a rapist’s baby. What society doesn’t realize is that baby is the mother’s baby. The rapist stole from her what was not his and he will not steal her child too. Society needs to know the truth and stop the prejudice against mothers and children of rape conception.”

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

Jane Moore was also conceived in rape. She explained, “When you find out you were fathered by a rapist, much self-evaluation occurs. I was always one who considered myself to be pro-life, but I was not one to argue with anyone as to the validity of their own personal convictions. However, that drastically changed when I realized that there are others like me, conceived in rape, who instead of feeling their first breath, seeing the sunrise or hearing their mother’s voice sweetly singing a lullaby, they are ripped from the womb without question. And when the ‘necessity’ of terminating the pregnancy is questioned by the actual rape victim, she is told that therapeutically, for her own good, it is ‘the right thing to do.’ ‘What a horrible thing to have to go through, seeing your rapist’s face in the face of your child’, ‘Seeing your baby will remind you every day of your rape’ and so on. Abortion, however, is truly a second rape – more violence…”