This article, deals with the emotionally charged issue of sexual assault and abortion. We have deep compassion for the survivor’s and victims of rape. That said, we can’t compromise on truth when addressing this very serious topic.
If you or someone you know is pregnant and needs help, reach out to StandingWithYou.org or HeartbeatInternational.org — both provide help to women in need.
We also know this is a difficult subject that may stir up intense feelings. If you’re struggling with thoughts of self-harm, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. There are people available 24/7 which can help you.
Biblical, law, and justice
Rape is a serious crime before God. As God’s law should be the standard of law and justice, Christian’s should refer to God’s law on how the state should administer justice. According to Scripture, convicted rapists are to be put to death by the state. (Deuteronomy 22:25, Romans 13:1-5)
This serves a few purposes:
- Enacting justice for the victim, their family, and society
- A deterrence for would-be rapists
- Removing evil people from society who are likely to repeat their crimes and encourage others to repeat their actions
If, as a Christian, you doubt the applicability of God’s law to modern justice, we recommend you read this compelling essay by the late Dr. Greg Bahnsen. If you’re an unbeliever and wonder why we’re invoking “religion”, we’ll get to you in another article soon.
Christian’s should refer to God’s law on how the state should administer justice
Under our current system: Rapists should be reported to law enforcement, given a fair trial, and, if convicted, given no leniency in their sentencing. We support laws which revoke a rapist’s parental rights.
Are you going to force a woman to carry her rapist’s baby?
The baby is also her flesh and blood. She is the mother of the baby growing inside her. The circumstances of the baby’s conception don’t determine the value of her baby’s life. Human life and dignity aren’t dependent on the actions or characters of their parents.
The baby is also her flesh and blood.
One can’t claim the title or label a law “pro-life” but then invoke an ‘exception’ for “rape and incest” (incest is a topic we’ll handle in another article). Either life is sacred or it is not. There is no middle ground. Many people in the pro-life movement are themselves the result of rape, or, are survivors of sexual assault who have chosen life for their babies.
Of those suggesting rape as an exception, very few would stand behind our stance of a death penalty for rapists. Yet, they immediately place the child conceived by rape on death row.
They immediately place the child conceived by rape on death row
Killing your child is never a solution to rape. Aborting a pregnancy, ending the life of the child growing inside you, doesn’t make the trauma of rape go away.
The elephants in the room
Abortion is commonly used as a means of hiding rape and sexual assault. Planned Parenthood has been caught several times hiding rapists. Rape is a great source of income for the abortion industry. Sex and human traffickers (modern slavers) love the abortion industry.
If that wasn’t enough, abortion mills are a hotspot for sexual assault and sexual predators, according to a report by Life Dynamics.
Abortion mills are a hotspot for sexual assault and sexual predators
Survivors of rape don’t want abortion
Less than one percent of abortions performed in the United States are attributed to sexual assault. Even if we were to assume for the sake of argument abortion was a valid option (it never is), it doesn’t justify the mass murder of millions of other children conceived by other means.
This number also tells us something: women conceive through rape largely aren’t choosing abortion. This is corroborated by the only study which has ever been done on the topic which found 75% to 85% of women who conceived by rape carried their baby to term. Personhood Alliance has a great article on this subject with additional references.
Anecdotally, women whom the author knows who conceived by rape found their baby to be the one positive thing from and otherwise horrific experience.
Change your perspective
We have been trained by the repeated mantras of the baby murderers that killing the baby conceived by rape is what rape survivors want, that ‘forcing them to carry their rapists baby’ is ‘a form of torture.’ This false narrative serves no other purpose than to exploit traumatized women to support a multi-million dollar murder and baby part selling industry.
We must promote a culture of life. These narratives must be called out for what they are: evil.
It is never uncompassionate to tell someone to not commit murder. The evil act of one person doesn’t justify another. One injustice doesn’t justify more injustice. Murdering your baby doesn’t take back the actions of evil men. It doesn’t take away the trauma.
Killing your baby makes you a murderer.
When we make exceptions for rape, our society heaps judgement upon itself. To forfeit the lives of innocent unborn babies is a gross injustice. We don’t dismiss the suffering victims of rape feel. It is real. It is deep. It is awful. But justice and resolution comes through seeking a legal conviction of your attacker, not through the killing of your baby.
Featured graphic by darkday / CC BY 2.0
Article edited by Carol Lynne
