Warning: Foul Language Ahead
Any time you talk to anyone about abortion, unless they are one of those soul-less “free abortions for everyone!” people, you will always come back around to this pro choice question:
“What about in cases of rape and incest?”
This is a valid question. There are no easy answers. Both rape and incest are unimaginable crimes, arguably the worst things that can happen to a woman (or child.) Imagine getting pregnant from such a violent act. It is almost unthinkable.
What I don’t understand is how an act of murder somehow makes this unthinkable crime more tolerable.
I’ve never been raped, or been the victim of incest. I haven’t walked in those shoes, so all of my opinions are based on suppositions, and on what my conscience and common sense tell me. If a child is conceived in rape, or incest, that is a horrible thing. But it isn’t that baby’s fault. It’s almost like the pro choice people are somehow suggesting that by ridding the victim of the baby, the act can somehow be forgotten, or lessened. How is that possible?
On an even darker end of the spectrum, pro choice advocates love to use the rape and incest argument to push a pro choice agenda, when in fact these abortions make up less than 1% of the abortions that happen in this country every year. If that isn’t exploitation of a victim, I don’t know what is.
People have asked me, what if your daughter (who is severely disabled) were molested and became pregnant? My answer to that is I would be distraught. I cannot predict what my husband would do. I’m sure it would make the world news. I can tell you this: that hypothetical child in my daughters womb is half of my daughter, and my heart will not let me destroy that.
That takes me along to a different subject. This is where the foul language comes in.
Over the past few months, imbedded in the abortion debate, I have seen some discussion about disabled kids, sometimes referred to as “profoundly” disabled children. I’ve seen discussion about what a burden these kids are on their families when they aren’t cute little kids any more. You know, when they get heavy and not as cute and they still need diapers and all that. When society isn’t as anxious to parade them across TV.
A good example of this is Iceland. They have almost no babies born with Down Syndrome! Amazing! They’ve found a prevention for Down Syndrome!
Wrong! They just abort the babies that have it! So, in short, it’s like the Nazi’s declaring, “Hey! No Jews live in Germany!”
No shit.
When I was pregnant with Evelyn, we had to go see a “specialist.” She was causing all kinds of problems in my womb–not moving enough, not processing the amniotic fluid like she was supposed to, you name it–and we had to have a more intensive ultrasound (this was before the whole 4D ultrasound thing) and have an amniocentesis. Early in my pregnancy, I had elected not to have an AVP screen, which supposedly can warn you that your child has Down Syndrome or some other horrifying disability.
Long story short, the specialist scolded me for not having this test. If the test comes up positive, they recommend further testing, aka amniocentesis, to provide a more exact diagnosis. Fine. But what he said next shifted my entire world right on its axis. He said, “no one is obligated to raise a child with a profound disability.”
Isn’t it a shame how you can never think of the right comeback when you are right there in that moment? It always hits you later. What I did at that moment was stare at him blankly and try to put my brain and my heart back in their respective positions.
What I wish I would have said is, “Yes, you fucking prick, we are obligated to raise and love and care for whatever child is born to us!”
We’ve reached a place where we can abort because it’s a girl or a boy when we wanted the other. Or maybe we can keep those pesky Down Syndrome babies from sullying the general statistics of our extremely white, extremely blond population.
Guess what else? Now old people are on the chopping block. Oh, and very very sick people. Are they a burden? Let’s convince them that they are better off dead, that they deserve to “die with dignity,” and then rid ourselves of the inconvenience they pose to us.
It’s sickening. It’s heart breaking and soul crushing. And it’s perfectly acceptable. In fact, it’s more acceptable to defend “a woman’s rights” than to defend human life. As I’ve said before, if you are against abortion, you hate women. You don’t think woman should have healthcare or rights. It’s all very cleverly worded by some deeply sick individuals, and a large population has swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker.
I don’t hate women. I don’t think victims of rape or incest should be cast aside. It isn’t mutually exclusive–quite the opposite. Compassion and love should extend to all. Why can’t we see that?
Why?
