Controversy

Should abortion ban bills include exceptions for rape and incest?

WRITTEN BY
04/26/20
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Fact Box

  • In May 2019, the Alabama HB314 bill made abortion or attempted abortion a felony offenses with the only exception being serious risk to the mother’s health or life. Cases of rape and incest are not included in the exceptions to the law [1].
  • From a 2005 report, a combined less than 2% of aborted pregnancies are the result of rape and incest [2]. 
  • Over 40% of self-identified “pro-life” adults in the U.S. believe there should be exceptions in abortion law for rape and incest. Nearly 30% of national adults who are opposed to abortion at any stage of pregnancy still support rape and incest exceptions [3].
  • According to the Guttmacher Institute, 1% of women attain abortions due to rape and 0.05% on account of incest [4].

Emma (Yes)

A person is never obligated to donate any part of their body to another person, regardless of the recipient's need or how small the cost is to the donor. We do not even obligate deceased individuals to donate to a living person that will die without it unless the donor gives consent before death. According to experts at Georgetown University, '…the right of autonomy preempts the obligation to serve the health of others.' Given that a fetus uses the mother's body to live and grow, restrictions on abortion violate women's right to bodily autonomy.

Forcing women to carry pregnancies resulting from traumatic experiences, particularly rape, damages their health by intensifying the trauma, ruining their lives. Women who have been raped are likely at risk of higher rates of depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts due to the trauma. Forcing them to carry their unwanted pregnancy to term is a cruel way to ease their pain. Suicide attempts are certainly serious risks to the mother's life, and these are likely driven by the loss of abortion as an option. Many incest cases are also the result of rape, pointing to likely sexual assault or conditioning between relatives that preceded the event. Rape and incest victims should always be given exceptions to terminate if they feel this is the best and only option for their future and well-being. And as of July 2022, unfortunately, 15 states have impending or already passed legislation that does not offer exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. A compassionate society would recognize this, reject these laws, and support women in their self-preservation and emotional needs following deeply distressing events. 


Suzanne (No)

Injustices like rape, incest, and murder show how bodily autonomy is often misused. Someone having the freedom to enact their will over someone else doesn't mean it's right. Tragically, the vulnerable unborn are that 'someone else,' frequently disregarded in this abortion debate. They didn't decide how they were conceived, and their physical tethering inside their mother's womb is necessary by design, allowing a completely alive, distinct human child the safety to develop to the point of birth and beyond. 

Justice and common law condemn taking life from innocent persons, just as it condemns other crimes. Even in horrible cases of rape and incest, the unborn are unwitting third-party participants, undeserving of bearing the full punishment—in this case, the death penalty—for a crime they have not committed. Not even rapists receive the death penalty. The intentional killing of innocent human life simply because they are unwanted and unborn gives more human rights to rapists than to vulnerable children. 

Further, a person's location, origin, and whether or not they are desired do not determine or negate their value and worth. Legislators pushing abortion exceptions in the cases of rape and incest communicate to people conceived through those circumstances that they should have been terminated. That is despicable messaging to promote. 

The unborn are human, entitled to their own human rights, starting at conception. They are distinct from their mother, often the opposite sex, complete with unique DNA and more. Embryology only expands our understanding of fetal development, confirming life begins at fertilization. Abortion cannot erase the trauma of sexual assault. All women who endure such pain while bringing the unexpected life inside them to fruition deserve the utmost compassion, support, and respect.

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