[PUG] (Pro-Life question) Rape.

[This]

I need to preface this by saying I personally have a rather odd view on abortion in that I believe it is taking a life but still believe it is what I would consider to be "necessary murder" and I vote in a "pro-choice" fashion. You couldn't exactly call me pro-choice, nor could you call me pro-life. It's left me to look at both sides from what I believe to be a more objective point of view.

So here is the question, and it is a question for pro-lifers or pro-choicers that believe pro-lifers should make an exception for rape cases. The question is this: if you believe a fetus to be a life, and you believe that life to have value, and you are heavily against this "murder" in general and would go as far as to say as it should be illegal. Why then, is a baby that comes from rape's life less valuable than a baby that comes from consensual sex?

 

[magister343]

I for one do not think that rape or incest should excuse abortion. Some claim that it is cruel to the mother to punish her when it was not her choice, but I think it is far more reprehensible for the requirement to carry a child to be a punishment for sexual promiscuity rather than a simple necessity to preserve an innocent life.


I come down on the pro-life side of Evictionism. I agree that the woman has a right to control her own body, but do not think that this right trumps the child's right to life except when pregnancy threatens her life as well. The rights conflict ends however when the fetus is viable and can be safely removed, at which point the woman should have the choice to evict the child without killing it. Hopefully we will someday have the technology to safely remove a fetus or even embryo before it seriously interferes with the mother's life, and allow it to be implanted in the womb of an infertile woman who wants children (rather than having such women rely in vitro fertilization methods that create excess embryos which are typically discarded).

 

[Barnabas]

Morally I stand with the idea that a life is a life regardless of how it was concieved............(this is going to bite me in the but when cloning becomes common place), but I take a practical stance on it politically, seeing as rape and incest abortions take up .1% it seems like a fine concession to make if it were to lead to stricter abortion laws.

 

[acd]

It should be up to the woman whether or not to carry a child to term regardless of circumstance. It is her body and her decision. Not your (general 'your' not anyone specifically) decision because you happen to have strong religious convictions. In regards to whether or not a fetus of rape is more valuable, it's up to the mother. It isn't your child to nourish through a pregnancy and then raise. But I don't believe that god ordains life to be valuable. I don't think that a fetus trumps the rights of the mother.

 

[Nixie]

The question posed is why is a fetus conceived from rape less valuable. I would think logically, it is a situation which would bring a tremendous amount of pain, anger and grief to the mother. The belief that such a child would bear the brunt of those emotions from the mother. 9 months of carrying the child of a man who visted violence upon you and violated your sense of peace and security is an awful burden to bear. I don't think it is about the "value" of said child but the horrific idea of having to have a constant reminder of such a traumatic event in your life.

Within the whole abortion argument, I find the idea that we should all live up to Christian ideals the most repugnant. Abortion and the ability to end pregnancies has existed for a very long time--it is not a modern phenomenon. While we owe it to ourselves and our communities to abide by tenents of behavior (generally codified into laws and criminilzation) we do not have the right to force our morality on others. Some people do not see abortion as murder and rightly believe they have a right to make choices about their own bodies.

Perhaps the better solution would be to emasculate all convicted male rapists and then the liklihood pregnancy resulting from rape would decline.

 

[This]

The question posed is why is a fetus conceived from rape less valuable. I would think logically, it is a situation which would bring a tremendous amount of pain, anger and grief to the mother. The belief that such a child would bear the brunt of those emotions from the mother. 9 months of carrying the child of a man who visted violence upon you and violated your sense of peace and security is an awful burden to bear. I don't think it is about the "value" of said child but the horrific idea of having to have a constant reminder of such a traumatic event in your life.

This makes sense to me from the "pro-choice" camp, however I can not understand it from the "pro-life" camp. Theoretically a person whom is genuinely "pro-life" is that way because they believe a fetus to be a human, with a human life. They believe this to the extent that they think this unborn fetuses life is AS important as the mothers life. If we are to assume that this fetus is a human (and for the purposes of this thread we are as we are looking at this from a "pro-life" perspective at the moment.) why would we project punishment onto this "baby"?

From a personal standpoint I would say people that are "pro-life" yet make this exception must not truly be genuine in their reasoning for being "pro-life".

 

[Nixie]

Because there are very few absolutes, especially when we are talking about human behavior. Maybe because a resonable person can understand why a woman who was raped would want an abortion and anti-abortionist (I dislike the impled rightousness of "pro-life') don't want to alienate people from their cause.

 

[This]

Because there are very few absolutes, especially when we are talking about human behavior. Maybe because a resonable person can understand why a woman who was raped would want an abortion and anti-abortionist (I dislike the impled rightousness of "pro-life') don't want to alienate people from their cause.

I suppose, it just seems extremely inconsistent to me.