Pregnant from rape?
Why not abort her?
First it is important to
define terms. This issue concerns assault, or forcible, rape, not consensual,
not marital rape. In recent years semantics have muddied the water,
particularly regarding "date rape."
Rape is the forcible
imposition of a man on a woman for sexual intercourse. Whether it occurs behind
the bushes or on a date, it should be reported to the police and charges filed.
(College students, are you listening?)
Are assault rape
pregnancies common?
No, they are very rare.
Are there accurate
numbers?
The Justice Dept., from
1973 to 1987, surveyed 49,000 households annually, asking questions on violence
and criminal acts. The results of those reported were:
1973 — completed rapes —
95,934
1987 — completed rapes —
82,505
The study stated that
only 53% were reported to police. Accordingly, the total numbers were: 1973 — 181,016 : 1987 — 155,667 The Washington Times,
A more recent Justice
Dept. report, using a study designed differently with more direct questions,
returned a result of 170,000 completed rapes plus 140,000 attempted rapes. Nat. Crime Victim
And how many pregnancies
result?
About 1 or 2 for each
1000. Using the 170,000 figure, this translates into an overall total of 170 to
340 assault rape pregnancies a year in the entire United States.
Only one or two out of
1000? Please explain.
There are about 100
million women in the United States old enough to be at risk for assault rape.
Let’s use a figure of 200,000 forcible rapes every year. The studies available
agree that there are no more than two pregnancies per 1,000 assault rapes.
So much for the numbers.
Let’s look at it from another angle and see if that figure makes sense.
- Of these 200,000 women
who were raped, one-third were either too old or too young to get pregnant.
That leaves 133,000 at risk of pregnancy.
- A woman is capable of
being fertilized only three days out of her 30-day month. So divide 133,000 by
10, and 13,300 women remain.
- One-fourth of all women
in the United States of child-bearing age have been sterilized. That drops the
figure to 10,000.
- Only half of the
assailants penetrate her body and/or deposit sperm. Cut it in half again. We
are own to 5,000.
- Fifteen percent of men
are sterile; that drops the figure to 4,250. Fifteen percent of non-surgically
sterilized women are naturally sterile. That reduces the number to 3,600.
- Another 15% are on the
pill and/or are already pregnant. Now the figure is 3,070. Now factor in
something that all adults know. It takes from five to ten months for an average
couple to achieve a pregnancy. Using the smaller figure, to be conservative,
divide the 3,000 figure by 5, and the number drops to about 600.
In a healthy, peaceful
marriage, the miscarriage rate ranges up to about 15%. In this case, we have
incredible emotional trauma. Her body is upset. Even if she conceives, the
miscarriage rate is higher than in a more normal pregnancy. If she loses 20% of
600, there are 450 left. Finally, we must factor in one of the most important
reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that is psychic trauma.
Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual
cycle. To get pregnant and stay pregnant, a woman’s body must produce a very
sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of
the brain which is easily influenced by emotions. There’s no greater emotional
trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can
radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and
even nurturing of a pregnancy. So what further percentage reduction in
pregnancy will this cause? No one really knows, but this factor certainly cuts
the last figure by at least 50%, and probably more, leaving a final figure of
225 women pregnant each year, a number that closely matches the 200 found in
clinical studies.
But are there specific
studies?
Here are several:
A study of 1,000 rape
victims, who were treated medically right after the rape, reported no
pregnancies. L.
Kuchera, "Postcoital
Contraception with Diethylstilbestrol," JAMA, October 25, 1971
In another study, medical
treatment on more than
1,000 women was
"100% effective," according to Dr. B. Craver at the Wilson
Foundation. B.
Craver, "Morning After Pill Prevents Pregnancy in Victims of Rape," Family
Practice News, Mar. 1972
If the rape victim is not
treated, and if it is limited to true assault rape, the pregnancy rate will still
be extremely small. If all "reported" rapes, including statutory rape
(under 18-years-old, but sometimes with consent given), when drunk (with
questionable consent), etc., it is higher. There are two such large,
across-the-board studies of all reported rapes (with no reported attempt to
validate them), in Washington, DC for the years 1965-69 and 1969-70. These
reported on rape victims seen by private doctors, clinics, and hospitals, with
no details as to treatment, if any. Of the 2,190 women in the first study and
the 1,223 women in the second, a total of 23 and of 21 pregnancies occurred, or
rates of 6 and 17 per 1,000. If these had been limited to true assaults and the
women had been given hormone treatment, the pregnancy rate would have been much
lower, perhaps zero. Hayman & Lanza,
"Sexual Assault on Women and Girls," Amer. Jour. OB/GYN, vol. 109, No. 3, Feb.
1971, pp. 480-486 Hayman et al., "Rape in the
District of Columbia," Amer. Jour. OB/GYN, vol. 113, no. 1, May
1972, pp. 91, 97
In another series of 117
assault rape victims, of whom only 17 were given hormone treatment after the
attack, none became pregnant. Everett & Jimerson, "The
Rape Victim," 237 OB & GYN, vol. 50, no. 1, July 1977, pp.
88-90
In still another series
of 126 assault rape victims, only half of those at risk of pregnancy were
treated, but none became pregnant. Evrard & Gold,
"Epidemiology and Management of Sexual Assault Victims," OB &
GYN, vol. 53, no. 3, Mar. 1979, pp. 381-387
Dr. Alfred Kinsey
reported that of 2,094 single females who had voluntary intercourse 460,000
times, the pregnancy rate was 1 per 1,000 exposures. Many of these women had
used contraception, many had not, but it is also true that some assaulted women
have I.U.D.s or/and are on the pill. A. Kinsey, Sexual Behavior
of the Human Female, N. Saunders Publishers, 1953, p. 327
In Czechoslovakia, out of
86,000 consecutive induced abortions, only 22 were done for rape.
Why not allow abortion for rape pregnancies?
We must approach this with
great compassion. The woman has been subjected to an ugly trauma, and she needs
love, support and help. But she has been the victim of one violent act. Should
we now ask her to be a party to a second violent act -that of abortion?
Unquestionably, many would return the violence of killing an innocent baby for
the violence of rape. But, before making this decision, remember that most of
the trauma has already occurred. She has been raped. That trauma will live with
her all her life. Furthermore, this girl did not report for help, but kept this
to herself. For several weeks or months, she has thought of little else. Now,
she has finally asked for help, has shared her upset, and should be in a
supportive situation.
The utilitarian question
from the mother’s stand-point is whether or not it would now be better to kill
the developing baby within her. But will abortion now be best for her, or will
it bring her more harm yet? What has happened and its damage has already
occurred.
She’s old enough to know
and have an opinion as to whether she carries a "baby" or a
"blob of protoplasm." Will she be able to live comfortably with the
memory that she "killed her developing baby"? Or would she
ultimately be more mature and more at peace with herself if she could remember
that, even though she became pregnant unwillingly, she nevertheless solved her
problem by being unselfish, by giving of herself and of her love to an innocent
baby, who had not asked to be created, to deliver, perhaps to place for
adoption, if she decides that is what is best for her baby. Compare this memory
with the woman who can only look back and say, "I killed my baby."
But carry the rapist’s
child?
True, it is half his. But
remember, half of the baby is also hers, and there are other outstretched arms
that will adopt and love that baby.
I don’t see how she
could!
"Interestingly, the
pregnant rape victim’s chief complaint is not that she is unwillingly pregnant,
as bad as the experience is. The critical moment is fleeting in this area. It
frequently pulls families together like never before. When women are
impregnated through rape, their condition is treated in accordance, as are
their families.
"We found this
experience is forgotten, replaced by remembering the abortion, because it is
what they did." M. Uchtman, Director, Suiciders Anonymous, Report to Cincinnati City Council,
Sept. 1, 1981
"In the majority of
these cases, the pregnant victim’s problems stem more from the trauma of rape
than from the pregnancy itself." Mahkorn & Dolan, "Sexual
Assault & Pregnancy." In New Perspectives on Human Abortion, University
Publishers of Amer., 1981, pp. 182-199 239
As to what factors make
it most difficult to continue her pregnancy, the opinions, attitudes, and
beliefs of others were most frequently cited; in other words, how her loved
ones treated her. Mahkorn, "Pregnancy & Sexual Assault." In
Psychological Aspects of Abortion, University Publishers of Amer., 1979,
pp. 53-72
But many laws would allow for this exception.
That is because many only
think of the mother. But we should also think of the baby. Should we kill an
innocent unborn baby for the crime of his father? Or let’s look at it this way.
Do we punish other criminals by killing their children? Besides, such laws pose
major problems in reporting, and also women have been known to report falsely.
You accuse women of
lying?
We don’t have to. Radical
feminist guru Gloria Steinem, in a 1985 interview with USA Today said
that "to make abortion legal only in cases of rape and incest would force
women to lie."
The story of Jane Roe, of
the Roe v. Wade Decision, is well known. Norma McCorvey
(her real name) fabricated a story, that she had been gang raped at a circus,
in the mistaken impression that this would permit her to obtain a legal abortion
in Texas. Not until 1987 did she reveal that the baby was actually conceived
"through what I thought was love." (Post, Sept. 9, 1987.) And:
Up until 1988,
Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program funded abortions, for women who claimed they
had been raped, without any requirement for reporting of the purported assault
to a law enforcement agency. Under this law, abortion clinic personnel issued
thinly veiled public invitations for women to simply state that they’d been
raped, and the state ended up funding an average of 36 abortions a month based
on such unsubstantiated claims. In 1988 the legislature added a requirement for
reporting the rape to a law enforcement agency, and the average dropped to less
than three abortions per month.
You said reporting was a
problem?
The problem is requiring
proof. If the woman goes directly to the hospital, her word is accepted. But,
sadly, through fright or ignorance, she may not report it and quietly nurse her
fears. She misses her period and hopes against hope that it isn’t what she
thinks it is. Sometimes months go by before finally, in tears, she reports to
her mother, her physician, or some other counselor or confidante. To prove rape
then is impossible. The only proof of rape then is to have a reliable witness
corroborate the story, and such a witness almost never exists.
What proof would be
needed early on?
Reporting the rape to a
law enforcement agency is needed. Any hospital emergency room will handle this.
If done within a day or
two, she can be examined, given medicine for sexually transmitted diseases and
counseled. Her word will rarely be questioned. But if it is many days later,
especially after a missed period, her word may not be enough (see above).
What percentage of rape pregnancies are aborted?
Less than half. The
balance carry the baby to term. In one study of 37 rape pregnancies, 28 carried
to term. S. Makhorn, in Psychological Aspects of Abortion, Mall
& Watts, Univ. Pub. 1979, Pg. 58
What is her chief
complaint?
Perhaps, surprisingly, it
is not the fact that she is pregnant. Her chief complaint is "how other
people treat her." This should be very sobering to everyone. How is she
treated? Do others understand the trauma she has experienced, and love and
support her? Or, do they avoid her and act as if it was partly her fault, or
worse? Just think, if all such victims were given generous love and support,
many more than at present would carry their babies to term. Mahkorn & Dona, "Sexual
Assault & Pregnancy." In New Perspectives on Human Abortion, University
Publishers of Amer., 1981, pp. 182-199 Mahkorn,
"Pregnancy & Sexual Assault." In Psychological Aspects of
Abortion, University Publishers of Amer., 1979, pp. 53-72
What if she could not cope with raising the
child?
We must let these women know
that it is all right to feel that way. We fully understand. That does not mean,
however, that the baby is unwanted. There are innumerable arms outstretched,
aching for a child to love. Any number of couples will want the child. She
should be supported and encouraged if she chooses to place the child in a
loving adoptive home.
She had a problem.
Abortion permanently removes the problem. Or is there emotional aftermath?
In recent years it has become
clear that these women can and do suffer from Post-Abortion Syndrome. When PAS
does develop, a woman, so affected, can carry the same burdens of guilt, denial
and depression that a woman who aborted a "love" baby often does. Why
is this? At least two dynamics seem obvious. Remember that the rape was done to
her. She was not responsible. She was the innocent victim and should bear no
guilt. But, by contrast, the abortion will be done by her. She agreed to it.
She was a volitional participant in a second act of violence: the killing of
her own unborn child. And it is her own unborn child. This is the other
inescapable fact of biology that probably is a factor in the development of
PAS. The newly-conceived baby is certainly the "rapist’s child," but
he or she is also her child, for half of the new baby’s genetic material came
from her. She may try, but, inside of her, she cannot deny this biologic
reality, however unwillingly it happened and however upsetting it may be. And
so, to kill this little one by abortion is to participate in a violent, lethal
act that destroys a baby who is partly her own flesh and blood. In loving
charity, we should never remind her of this.
But we don’t have to, for
she knows it instinctively and all of her maternal feelings may well rebel when
faced with being a part of this killing.
The "treatment"
for rape, isn’t it abortive?
This is best illustrated
by giving two theoretical case histories. Woman "A" is raped at
midnight on Saturday and is treated in a hospital emergency room with a female
hormone medication beginning at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. In this case, the
woman’s body was scheduled to ovulate two days later, on Monday. If that were
to have occurred, and if the assailant’s sperm were still alive in her body,
she might have been fertilized two days after the assault and become pregnant
at that time. A very small body of medical opinion believes that the dose of
medication given might prevent that ovulation, and she would therefore not get
pregnant. This mechanism of action would be one of temporary sterilization, or,
in more commonly used (however technically inaccurate) terms, the action would
be contraceptive. Woman "B" presents a different case. She had
ovulated at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, was raped at midnight, and also received
treatment at 3:00 a.m. To her own observation, this lady also does not
"get pregnant." In fact, something entirely different happened inside
her body. Let us assume that she was one of those very rare cases where
fertilization did occur, and had, in fact, occurred prior to the giving of the
medication. The life of a tiny new little boy or girl had begun. The cells of
this tiny body begin to divide and divide again, but at one week of life, when
implantation within the nutrient lining of the mother’s womb should occur, this
tiny new human being could not implant and died. The mechanism of action of the
drug, in this case, had been to harden the lining of the womb in order to
prevent implantation. This effect was one of a micro-abortion, at one week of
life and represents the large majority of medical opinion.
Would a Human Life
Amendment in America, or a law forbidding abortion in another nation, prevent
such treatment?
Most legal opinion agrees
that since these drugs have a multiplicity of other beneficial and therapeutic
effects, they would never be removed from the market. Since they would in some
cases have a legally permissible effect (temporary sterilization or/and
contraception), even with a strong Human Life Amendment in place, the use of such
drugs after rape could not be forbidden. Therefore, the choice now available to
a woman after a assault rape, to use or not use such treatment, would still be
available after such a law.
Once, after answering
questions on rape on a radio show, one of your authors was called to the phone
after the program. A woman’s voice said,
"You were talking
about me. You see, I am the product of rape. An intruder forced his way into my
parents’ house, tied up my father and, with him watching, raped my mother. I
was conceived that night. Everyone advised an abortion. The local doctors and
hospital were willing. My father, however, said, ‘Even though not mine, that is
a child and I will not allow it to be killed!’ I don’t know how many times
that, as I lay secure in the loving arms of my husband, I have thanked God for
my wonderful Christian father." And so, does anyone win? Yes, the baby
does.
Incest is intercourse by
a father with his daughter, uncle with niece, etc. It usually involves a sick
man, often a sick mother who frequently knows it’s happening (even if not
consciously admitting it), and an exploited child. Fortunately, pregnancy is
not very common. When incest does occur, however, it is seldom reported and,
when reported, is hard to prove.
Most pregnancies from
incest have a very different dynamic than from rape and must be counseled in a
very different manner.
Even strongly
pro-abortion people, if they approach an incest case professionally, must be
absolutely convinced before advising abortion, for abortion is not only is an
assault on the young mother, who may well be pregnant with a "love
object," but it may completely fail to solve the original problem. It is
also unusual for wisdom to dictate anything but adoptive placement of the baby.
Love object?
When pregnancy does
occur, it is often an attempt to end the relationship. In a twisted sort of
way, however, the father is a love object. In one study, only 3 of 13
child-mothers had any negative feelings toward him. H. Maisch,
Incest, New York: Stein & Day Publishers, 1972
In incest, is pregnancy
common?
No. "Considering the
prevalence of teenage pregnancies in general, incest treatment programs marvel
at the low incidence of pregnancy from incest." Several reports agree at
1% or less. G.
Maloof, "The Consequences of Incest," The
Psychological Aspects of Abortion, University Publications of Amer., 1979,
p. 74 245
How does the incest
victim feel about being pregnant?
For her, it is a way to
stop the incest; a way to unite mother and daughter, a way to get out of the
house. Most incestuous pregnancies, if not pressured, will not get abortions.
"As socially inappropriate as incest and incestuous pregnancies are, their
harmful effects depend largely upon reaction of others." G. Maloof,
"The Consequences of Incest," The Psychological Aspects of
Abortion, University Publications of Amer., 1979, p. 100
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