According to a recent Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll, 40% of Americans who consider themselves pro-life think abortion should be legal in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s life. However, being pro-life means supporting the right to life for all preborn babies to be born. Pro-life laws are created to protect preborn lives from abortion. Adding exceptions to that protection based on the circumstances of a child’s conception is discriminatory and inhumane.
Like rape, abortion is an act of violence that causes trauma. Abortion is so traumatic that it has been associated with an increased risk of depression, alcohol and drug use, and suicide. Women who have had abortions after rape report feeling “disgusted” with themselves and have said they turned to alcohol to numb the pain.
“The rape was nothing compared to the abortion,” said Nina, who became pregnant from rape. “The rape was bad but I could’ve gotten over it. The abortion is something I will never get over. No one realizes how much that event damaged my life. I hate my rapist, but I hate the abortionist too.”
Women who have chosen life for their babies conceived in rape, however, have much different stories to tell and have explained why abortion is wrong, no matter what.
A teenage girl by the username of “fmesstm” recently posted a video on Tik Tok explaining why she believes the pro-abortion argument against babies conceived in rape is an attempt to catch pro-lifers off guard. After sharing a clip of an abortion supporter asking a pro-lifer if her 12-year-old daughter shouldn’t be allowed an abortion if she were raped, “fmesstm” states:
Genuinely, I want to know, why do you do this? Why would you do this?
I started being abused when I was 11 and I got pregnant when I was a young teenager. And I want to know why you feel it’s appropriate to use the trauma of other people — other women and girls that you have not experienced — as a political talking point. Because you want to bludgeon people over the head with traumatic situations and events that are difficult to handle so it makes them uncomfortable to talk about the actual subject. This is evading the question.
“What if a girl gets raped” has nothing to do with whether or not human life in the womb has an objective value and if it should be legally protected. You’re literally just doing this to make them uncomfortable and feel like they have to stop talking. But… I’m here and I experienced that, unlike this woman, and I’m here to tell you that babies conceived in rape are not somehow less valuable because of what their father did.
I’m not your argument for abortion. Plain and simple.
Abortion always involves the killing of at least one innocent human being. The circumstances of her conception have nothing to do with a person’s value as a human being.
READ: Rape is a horrific trauma that abortion cannot heal
In a recent Facebook post, Jennifer Christie of Love Louder, Inc, who became pregnant from rape and is raising her son with the help of her husband, pointed out that society is against rape because in most cases of rape, a stronger and bigger person is attacking the body of someone else. The same is true with abortion. She stated:
Aren’t we collectively appalled when someone bigger and stronger forces their will onto the body of someone else
Or is that only when we don’t call that action” choice”?
Christie also testified before the Iowa state legislature in favor of a state “heartbeat bill” in 2018. Hear her powerful testimony below:
Society wrongly believes that babies conceived in rape will be constant painful reminders of the rape, but women who have chosen life say this is untrue. The rape is a trauma that can’t be erased, and abortion won’t remove it from their memories. Many of these women have said their children bring them joy.
“My son is a reminder,” said rape survivor Paula Peyton Ilari. “He reminds me that miracles still happen, and he is the greatest miracle I’ve ever held. My son is loved. He has a mama whose heart spills love for him everywhere because it simply cannot hold it all. My son is a child. He is a beautiful spark of light and hope and joy. He, like every other child, is filled with purpose. My son is love. He is God’s gift of love sent to heal my heart and draw me closer to the one who created us both.”
Killing is never the solution to our problems, and when the second trauma of abortion is added to the first trauma of rape, nothing is solved. Abortion doesn’t remove the rape or the memory of it — it simply kills an innocent human being and can leave a mother even more wounded.
Editor’s Note: Live Action works to maintain the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Live Action has looked into key elements of Ms. Christie’s testimony and personal story and has found them to be credible.
Editor’s Note, 2/25: This article originally stated that the girl in the article placed her child for adoption. This was incorrect, and we regret the error.
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