During the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for the possible confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) questioned Barrett about rape and abortion.
Blumenthal shared the story of a woman named Samantha, whom he said was out with friends and coworkers one evening and woke up the next morning in a coworker’s home. “She had been raped,” he explained. “After she was raped, Samantha was, in her words, ‘a zombie.’ She couldn’t change clothes, couldn’t shower, couldn’t drink or think. She wanted this event to be erased from her memory. Samantha’s attacker also began stalking her, and she was struggling with depression and PTSD.”
Two months later, Samantha learned she was pregnant from the assault. The trauma of the rape was then compounded by the realization that she was pregnant from the rape. Blumenthal said she told him, “I knew if I couldn’t end this pregnancy, it would end me.” She sought and obtained an abortion.
Rape is an act of violence
There is no question that rape is an act of violence that causes trauma. The emotional and physical pain caused by rape is incomprehensible. There is one person to blame, and that is the rapist, who should face justice and punishment for the crime.
Abortion is an act of violence
Abortion is also an act of violence that causes trauma, but it has two victims. One victim is the target of a direct attack on his or her innocent, young life. The other victim is the preborn child’s mother who, in cases of rape, has already recently survived a traumatic experience. An abortion may seem like a chance to stand up for herself against her attacker, but it is another attack against an innocent human being — the woman’s own child. Many rape survivors who have become pregnant and chosen abortion have regretted their decision immensely. Samantha, mentioned by Blumenthal, felt suicidal… and in her immense pain took someone else’s life. In no other situation than abortion would such a decision have been legal.
Abortion is not therapy
Rape survivors suffer trauma and many, if not all, will need assistance in dealing with any mental health concerns that arise. Pregnancy will add to this need. Blumenthal seems to believe that abortion solved Samantha’s mental health concerns as he repeated her statement: “I knew if I couldn’t end this pregnancy, it would end me.” Samantha needed help to deal with her trauma, her depression, and her suicidal thoughts, but was abortion really help? Abortion itself has been associated with an increased risk of depression, alcohol and drug use, and suicide. It is not a problem solver. Abortion compounds problems.
Choosing death for an innocent human being, who at two months already had a beating heart, a brain, hands, feet, and a face, does not erase the pain and trauma of rape. Penalties should be harsher for rapists, not for innocent children and their traumatized mothers.
READ: Rape survivor who became pregnant regrets taking abortion pill: ‘It kills me every day’
Choosing abortion after rape
