The Elliot Institute News
From the Leader in Post-Abortion Research
Vol. 6, No. 7 -- May 16, 2007
Visit us online: http://www.AfterAbortion.Info

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Rape, Incest and Abortion: Searching Beyond the Myths

• 12 Ways to Help #7 Write a Letter to the Editor

• Low Cost/No-Cost Ways to Use the Unchoice Ads & Educational Materials #3: Distribute Ads and Fact Sheets as Flyers

• Announcements

Rape, Incest and Abortion:
Searching Beyond the Myths

Editor's Note: The following is excerpted from the book Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions, and Children Resulting from Sexual Assault. For ordering information, visit www.unchoice.info/resources.htm or call 1-888-412-2676.

"How can you deny an abortion to a twelve-year-old girl who is the victim of incest?" "How can you call yourself a loving Christian if you would force a victim of violent rape to give birth to a rapist's child?"
 

Every pro-lifer has heard these same challenges in one form or another. These emotionally charged questions are usually used in an attempt to prove that pro-lifers are either (1) insensitive "fetus lovers" who don't care about women, or (2) ethically inconsistent, allowing abortion for some circumstances but not for others.
 

Unfortunately, most pro-lifers have difficulty answering these challenges because the issue is so widely misunderstood. Typically, both sides of the debate accept the presumption that most women who become pregnant following sexual assault want abortions. From this "fact," it naturally follows that the reason women want abortions in these cases is because it will help them to put the assault behind them, recover more quickly, and avoid the additional "trauma" of giving birth to a "rapist's child."
 

But in fact, the welfare of a mother and her child are never at odds, even in sexual assault cases. As the testimonies of many women confirm, both the mother and the child are helped by preserving life, not by perpetuating violence. Sadly, however, the testimonies of women who have actually been pregnant through sexual assault are routinely left out of this public debate. Most people, including sexual assault victims who have never been pregnant, are therefore forming opinions based on their own prejudices and fears rather than the real life experiences of those people who have been in this difficult situation and reality.
 

For example, it is commonly assumed that rape victims who become pregnant would naturally want abortions. But in the only major study of pregnant rape victims ever done prior to this book, Dr. Sandra Mahkorn found that 75 to 85 percent chose against abortion. This figure is remarkably similar to the 73 percent birth rate found in our sample of 164 pregnant rape victims. This one finding alone should cause people to pause and reflect on the presumption that abortion is wanted or even best for sexual assault victims.

Further, in our survey of 192 women who became pregnant through rape or incest, nearly 80 percent of the woman who had abortions said that abortion had not been a good solution and usually caused more harm than good. Of those who did give birth, none reported that they regretted continuing the pregnancy or expressed a wish that they had had an abortion instead.

Adding Fuel to the Fire
 

Most people assume that abortion will at least help a rape victim put the assault behind her and get on with her life. But in jumping to this conclusion, the public has adopted an unrealistic view of abortion.
 

Abortion is not some magical surgery which turns back the clock to make a woman "un-pregnant." Instead, it is a real life event which is always very stressful and often traumatic. Once we accept that abortion is itself an event with deep ramifications on a woman's life, then we must look carefully at the special circumstances of the pregnant sexual assault victim. Will having an abortion truly help her, or will it only cause further injury to her already bruised psyche?
 

In answering this question, it is helpful to begin by noting that many women report that their abortions felt like a degrading form of "medical rape." This association between abortion and rape is not hard to understand.
 

Abortion involves a painful intrusion into a woman's sexual organs by a masked stranger who is invading her body. Once she is on the operating table, she loses control over her body. If she protests and asks the abortionist to stop, chances are she will be either ignored or told: "It's too late to change your mind. This is what you wanted. We have to finish now." And while she lies there tense and helpless, the life hidden within her is literally sucked out of her womb. In both sexual and medical rape, a woman is violated and robbed. In the case of sexual rape she is robbed of her purity. In the case of medical rape via abortion, she is robbed of her maternity.
 

For many women this experiential association between abortion and sexual assault is very strong. It is especially strong for women who have a prior history of sexual assault, whether or not the aborted child was conceived during an act of assault. This is just one reason why women with a history of sexual assault are likely to experience greater distress during and after an abortion than are other women.
 

Second, research shows that after any abortion, it is common for women to experience guilt, depression, feelings of being "dirty," resentment of men, and lowered self-esteem. These feelings are identical to what women typically feel after rape. Abortion, then, only adds to and accentuates the traumatic feelings associated with sexual assault. Rather than easing the psychological burdens of the sexual assault victim, abortion adds to them.
 

This was the experience of Jackie, who reports: "I soon discovered that the aftermath of my abortion continued a long time after the memory of my rape had faded. I felt empty and horrible. Nobody told me about the pain I would feel deep within causing nightmares and deep depressions. They had all told me that after the abortion I could continue my life as if nothing had happened."¹
 

Those encouraging abortion often do so because they are uncomfortable dealing with sexual assault victims, or perhaps because they harbor some prejudice against victims whom they feel "let it happen." Wiping out the pregnancy is a way of hiding the problem. It is a "quick and easy" way to avoid dealing with the woman's true emotional, social and financial needs.
 

Kathleen, whose son Patrick was conceived in rape when she was 16, writes,
 

"I, having lived through rape, and also having raised a child "conceived in rape," feel personally assaulted and insulted every time I hear that abortion should be legal because of rape and incest. I feel that we're being used by pro-abortionists to further the abortion issue, even though we've not been asked to tell our side of the story."

Trapping the Incest Victim
 

The case against abortion for incest pregnancies is even stronger. Studies show that incest victims rarely ever voluntarily agree to abortion. Instead of viewing the pregnancy as unwanted, the incest victim is more likely to see the pregnancy as a way out of the incestuous relationship because the birth of her child will expose the sexual activity. She is also likely to see in her pregnancy the hope of bearing a child with whom she can establish a truly loving relationship, one far different than the exploitive relationship in which she has been trapped.
 

But while the incest victim may treasure her pregnancy because it offers her the hope of release from her situation, it poses a threat to the man who is exploiting her. It is also poses a threat to the pathological secrecy which may envelop other members of the family who are afraid to acknowledge the abuse. Because of this dual threat, the victim may be coerced into an unwanted abortion by both the abuser and other family members.
 

For example, Edith, a 12-year-old victim of incest impregnated by her stepfather, writes twenty-five years after the abortion of her child:
 

"Throughout the years I have been depressed, suicidal, furious, outraged, lonely, and have felt a sense of loss . . . The abortion which was to "be in my best interest" just has not been. As far as I can tell, it only 'saved their reputations,' 'solved their problems,' and 'allowed their lives to go merrily on.' . . . My daughter, how I miss her so. I miss her regardless of the reason for her conception."

Abortion providers who routinely ignore this evidence and neglect to interview minors presented for abortion for signs of coercion or incest are actually contributing to the victimization of young girls. Not only are they robbing the victim of her child, they are concealing a crime, abetting a perpetrator, and handing the victim back to her abuser so that the exploitation can continue.
 

Finally, we must recognize that children conceived through sexual assault also deserve to have their voices heard. Rebecca Wasser-Kiessling, who was conceived in a rape, is rightfully proud of her mother's courage and generosity and wisely reminds us of a fundamental truth that transcends biological paternity: "I believe that God rewarded my birth mother for the suffering she endured, and that I am a gift to her. The serial rapist is not my creator; God is."
 

Similarly, Julie Makimaa, who works diligently against the perception that abortion is acceptable or even necessary in cases of sexual assault, proclaims, "It doesn't matter how I began. What matters is who I will become."
 

That's a slogan we can all live with.
 

1. David C. Reardon, Aborted Women, Silent No More (Chicago, IL: Loyola University Press, 1987), 206.
 

~~~

For more information on sexual assault pregnancy and abortion, see our free downloadable booklet, "Hard Cases: New Facts. New Answers" (pdf file).

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12 Ways to Help Spread the Unchoice Message

#7: Write a Letter to the Editor

18If Americans knew the truth about unwanted, misinformed or forced abortions ... they would not push women to abort or deny them the opportunity to heal. Millions still suffer in the wake of a procedure that was never safe ... never just ... and never about free or fully informed choices.

Americans have been kept in the dark and many unwittingly push their daughters, wives, sisters or friends into unwanted and dangerous abortions. Meanwhile, countless women who have lived the abortion nightmare are resorting to despair or even suicide. It is urgent that we educate others about abortion's injustice and danger to everyone involved. With your help, we can stop others from pushing abortion in lieu of authentic choices and offer renewed hope and healing to women, men and families hurt by abortion.

Below is just one way you can help this important effort. To see the complete list of 12 Ways to Help, click here.

7. Write a Letter to the Editor

This is a highly effective way to educate the public and influence legislators about the injustice of coerced abortion, abortion-related abuses, risks and trauma.

Click here for examples of compelling letters that you can use "as is" or modify. 

Keep an eye on current events and use an item in the news as a well-timed reminder to raise awareness of post-abortion issues and the urgent need for compassion and healing, as well as the oppression of women by coerced abortion and censorship.

For example:

Mother's Day  – can be difficult for those suffering post-abortion grief
Father's Day  – abortion hurts men, too
National Depression Screening Awareness (October) – abortion linked to clinical depression and suicide, urgent crisis, hope and healing are possible
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (Feb 26-Mar 4)
See PR Calendar for other ideas and tie-ins to national events

Don’t forget to sign up for our email list so we can notify you immediately when there is such a "news peg," for example, newly published research, screening tests, free posters, etc. You can also check the PR calendar for additional news tie-ins. These dates are also a good time to run associated ads.

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Low-Cost/No-Cost Uses
for the Unchoice Ads and Educational Materials

#3: Distribute Ads and Fact Sheets as Flyers

You can help spread the Unchoice message by using our ads and educational materials -- even on a very limited or non-existent budget! Here is just one way you can spread the word. Click here to see other low-cost/no-cost ideas.

2. Speak to groups, or schedule a speaker, video or prayer service. Hand out materials or folders with selected ads and fact sheets.

Simply schedule and introduce a video, speaker or prayer vigil and hand out materials like our list of free downloadable resources, the Coerced Abortion Flyer, a list of ways to help, or other fact sheets and ads. Use your local civic or church group, or other venue. Use small ads and bulletin inserts and send press releases to your local news outlets, and elsewhere promoting the event.

Invite a member of a post-abortion ministry to speak

To find a speaker in your area, refer to local post-abortion counseling ministries or to our healing page for national organizations that can refer you to nearby affiliates, leaders and participants who are willing to speak to groups.

Use the radio and TV ads

Consider opening your talk or event with an UnChoice TV or radio ad to capture attention and to tell people about the campaign/outreach and materials. For further ideas, watch for our speech outline and Power Point slides, coming soon, and other new information at www.UnChoice.info.

Refer people to www.UnChoice.info often, and distribute the Free Resources promotional flyer to others who are willing to help.

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Announcements

Find out more about Elliot Institute books and resources at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm.
To place an order, call Acorn Books at 1-888-412-2676.

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