Alabama law now prohibits almost all abortions in Alabama. The response from the pro-choice community was swift and brutal and sometimes dishonest.
The refusal to provide an exception in the case of rape or incest was a force in their virulent response.
I harbor no illusion that this article will change anybody’s mind on the subject. Abortion has always been a polarizing subject. I hope to explain why many of us reject the idea of excepting rape and incest and allowing an abortion to occur.
Of all the crimes committed, rape and incest are the worst. The physical wounds may heal but the damage to the psyche of the victim is near indescribable. The pain remains for the rest of the person’s life. There is no rest or resolve from its nightmarish consequences.
Those who commit such crimes deserve harsh punishment. But, no amount of justice will ever resolve the scars left behind.
Decent people will do anything to try and alleviate their agony. For some, that means allowing for abortion in the extraordinarily rare case of pregnancy arising from either rape or incest.
Some of us cannot go that far. I hope you will read my words carefully and please accept that I hurt for victims like you but I just cannot countenance abortion.
Here’s my take.
The pre-born child is a living person
The foundation of the pro-life argument is that the unborn is a living person. We do not take life from any guiltless person.
The Bible, upon which we stand, speaks of an unborn child as a person. David wrote,
“Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb” (Psalm 71:6).
Solomon said the spirit, always associated with life, comes to the child while still in the womb (Ecclesiastes 11:5).
Jeremiah was known even before he was conceived:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5)
We must acknowledge that the child, regardless of how it came to be, is alive. The child is a person.
We also acknowledge that carrying a child to term, conceived of because of rape or incest, is a tremendous burden. But what pro-choice advocates seek is to kill a living, innocent being. We cannot, I cannot, support such an injustice.
The pre-born child is innocent
Innocent. Let that percolate through your thinking for a moment. The child is innocent, without guilt, white as snow.
Abortion blames the innocent child for something they had no part in. Just as we would never blame the mother for her own rape or victimization, we must not blame the child either.
Justice demands that the perpetrator is punished and no one else. It would be truly immoral to take the life of the child.
The victim must be fully supported
In such a tragic situation, the victim must receive every possible assistance, physical, psychological, financial, and spiritual. The expense should be borne by the state who will then demand restitution from the criminals. If the victim so chooses, let the child be placed for adoption through closed and sealed adoption proceedings.
We should spare no expense in providing care for the victim. But we must not create a second victim through abortion.
These are some of the reasons why an exception for rape or incest is not in order. We are having a robust national conversation about abortion. Let us always err on the side of justice.
As always, the comments are open for your thoughts.
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