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I am doing a report for school about abortion that deals with pro abortion, and pro life. I think that abortion is cruel, but then I always think, what if I was a 12 year old girl that was molested by my father, or other family member, and got pregnant?

In that case, is the abortion any less cruel? Do you think abortion is cruel because you believe the unborn is a person? If that happens to be the case (and I'm not presuming that this is indeed the case, since I don't know your views on abortion) is the unborn less human based on the manner of conception?

First of all, being 12 is way to young to have a baby, and even if you gave it up for adoption, I don't see how a 12 year old could have a baby without seriously putting her body in danger.

That depends on the individual.

And if I got pregnant with a family members child, I would definitely not want to carry that child. In those circumstances, personally I would want to have an abortion. What are your thoughts about situations like these, and solutions?

You asked for my thoughts on this situation, so I'll outline them briefly and provide you with some links you may find useful.

First, pregnancies resulting from incest are quite rare. This does not negate how traumatic this situation is, but even if one believes in allowing abortion for incest or rape, this does not justify the current abortion-on-demand laws.

An abortion will remove the unborn child, and may seem to be the best action at the time, but this isn't the case. The pregnancy no longer exists after the abortion, but the assailant and the abuse does. In fact, it is often the assailant who insists upon the abortion to cover up his own crimes. Most cases of incest related abortions are actually arranged by the perpetrator or his wife/girlfriend, with the purpose of concealing the incest. In addition, many, if not most, incest victims are given no choice but abortion, just as they were given no choice about sex. In fact, studies show that incest victims rarely ever voluntarily agree to an abortion (Maloof, "The Consequences of Incest: Giving and Taking Life" The Psychological Aspects of Abortion (eds. Mall & Watts, Washington, D.C., University Publications of America, 1979) 84-85 )

I personally know of a story about a girl who was being molested, became pregnant, and taken for an abortion, all without her consent. One of my girlfriends recently showed me a letter one of her friends sent her (with the friend's permission) detailing this situation. The victim's sister's boyfriend was molesting her, with her sister's knowledge. (I have never understood why people who KNOW that their boyfriend/husband/whoever is molesting someone stand by and don't do anything!!) The girl was young (12 or 13) and one month, missed her period. She told her sister. Her sister then told the boyfriend, and they made a "doctor's appointment" for the victim. The victim recalls going to the clinic and being put to sleep, and then waking up and feeling cramped. She didn't know at the time that she had just had an abortion. She did figure it out later.

The victim wasn't told what was going on, and the people at the clinic apparently didn't ask. WHY some clinics look the other way when older men bring in young girls for abortions is BEYOND ME. It's as if they don't want to deal with the situation, so the girl gets an abortion and gets plopped right back into the same situation! How incredibly pro-woman!

Incest abortions usually involve two selfish people and two victims. The two selfish people are the perpetrator of the act, and the other person who often knows about what is going on. The victims are the unborn child and the young girl. The abortion doesn't solve the problem, it merely covers up the incest and further violates the victim.

You asked about solutions....I don't have all the answers, but I can say that, whether one believes that women should have the legal right to abort or not, we must crack down on places which don't question older men bringing in very young girls for abortions! Why don't clinics workers think that something might be up when an 11 or 12 year-old comes in for an abortion? Looking the other way assists the assailant in continuing the crime. That has to STOP. People also need to stop looking the other way when they know incest is occurring. I can't fathom why anyone would ignore such a thing. Lastly, some people automatically assume that a woman wants to abort an incest related pregnancy, and refuse to accept any other alternative. This doesn't exactly help the victim, nor does claiming that the girl couldn't possibly carry "that man's child" help the victim, as it implies that women are just receptacles for the male seed, and that the child is more his than her's! And the notion, which I have heard mentioned by many, that all children born from rape or incest will turn out to be horrible people is absurd. When the father of a 5 year-old commits a crime, do we give up on the child and assume he/she is destined to become a horrible person? Why then is such a characteristic often applied to the unborn?

I hoped this helped somewhat. I have included some links which discuss this issue much more articulately than I.
Resources for Women Who Are Dealing with Pregnancies Due to Sexual Assault
The following is reprinted from The American Feminist, Fall 1998
Copyright 1998 Feminists for Life of America.
Permission to reprint granted whenever credit line is given.

We offer these resources for women who need help dealing with a pregnancy caused by an assault and for children conceived in rape and their relatives who need emotional support. In addition, pregnancy care centers offer a host of material assistance and professional resources. Look under "Abortion Alternatives" in your Yellow Pages.

Fortress International
P.O. Box 1373
South Bend, IN 46624

A support group for women who are pregnant through assault and children conceived in assault.

Life After Assault League
1336 West Lindbergh Street
Appleton, WI 54914
(920) 739-4489


Evangelical Christian ministry for women who are pregnant through assault and children conceived in assault.

Reading Materials



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