Thoughts on rape and abortion...

I've recently had a discussion with a friend of mine who has declared herself a "feminist". Quite a few interesting things came out of that discussion, including how a few of her views had changed in the last few years that we've been friends.

One thing of interest to me though is that, when I asked her back then, she was "against" abortion without any qualificiations. 

Now however, she says that it's a tough issue for her, because she doesn't support abortion, but she's conflicted on the issue of rape.

That really saddens me because abortion is an issue of high importance to me, based on my own life. I wasn't conceived in rape, however my parents were in poverty when I was born. Frankly, they were unfit to be parents, as they were unmarried, and with all the other usual arguments you hear to justify abortion... in a nutshell, by the arguments posed by the pro-abortion movement, I should have been aborted.

I discussed the issue with my friend and she was adamant that rape was her only qualification on the issue - but that is still rather upsetting.

She agrees that the unborn child is... well, a child and deserves life, and for me, that should be the end of the issue. However, apparently for a lot of people, "rape" seems to be the exception to whether a life is valuable or not.

Last week I posted an article about my conversion to the Catholic faith, you can read it by clicking here. When I was converting to the faith in 2007/08, I became close to a couple who owned a jewelry store in our town; both were very well known and outspoken on most Catholic issues, especially abortion.

They would regularly write letters to the local newspaper debating the issue with other readers, and one day the wife of the couple sent in a particular letter that talked about rape and abortion.

Soon afterwards, a lady stormed into her jewelry shop and reportedly swore and carried on at my friend about "how dare you talk about such issues unless you've experienced it yourself". The lady revealed that she was conceived in rape and her mother, and all other women should have the right to abort if they wish due to rape.

My friend, in her usual calm, collected and respectful manner gently grasped the lady's hand and said "My dear, if your mother had aborted you, you wouldn't be here right now". 

After this was said, the woman's rage subsided and she realised the consequence of if she had been aborted. She reported that she and her mother have a wonderful relationship, and that neither of them would change that for the world.

The problem with issues like this is emotion overwhelms logic in most people. "Rape is a horrendous crime and should be punished", is the attitude of most people, and that is certainly the case, but punishing the child based on how they were conceived is not justice, and is not punishment for the right person. The only person who should be punished in cases of rape is the rapist.

But, unfortunately, that is rarely considered by people, and their sense of "justice" is to abort the child.

This is not the first case of rape conception that I've heard where the mother and child have had beautiful relationships.

Such an article was posted on Lifenews recently.

Pro-life action group LiveAction has also produced undercover footage at America's Planned Parenthood abortion mills, where the staff not only use abortion to hide the crimes of rapists, but also use it to hide paedophelia crimes as well. The logic is, if the child is not there, the mother can't prove the rape happened.

Rape, whether of adults or minors, is utterly abhorrent and frankly Planned Parenthood should be investigated and convicted of covering up sexual abuse.

Regardless, I just cannot understand how someone can be against abortion, especially acknowledging that the child exists and is alive and all that, and still justify abortion in the case of rape. If it is a child, and if the child is alive, then shouldn't that trump any other considerations?

After reading the Lifenews article and having this conversation with my friend, I felt the need to write an article expressing, at least why I cannot condone abortion in any case, including cases of rape.