Disclaimer: This isn't directed at anyone on my f-list.
I am tired of this.
I have been in this abortion debate for the past day or two, and I cannot even understand where these pro-life people are coming from. I can understand your silly religious morals, and as a form of birth control I don't agree with abortion, but what it ultimately keeps coming back to is:
'In terms of rape, the mother should carry it to term and put it up for adoption.'
Or, and I love this one,
'In terms of rape, the mother should forgive the baby. It's not the baby's fault you were raped!'
I can argue from day to night with these people, but they cannot seem to understand the severity of mental trauma that stems from rape and sexual abuse. I have never been raped, and the closed-minded assumptions that I have been seeing disgust and offend me.
You have been battered, stripped, violated and humiliated at the highest degree. Most rape victims claim to feel dirty for days or weeks afterward, washing themselves over and over, but have mentally convinced themselves that they are still dirty. If they feel so strongly appalled by this man's very touch, then can you imagine how they would feel knowing that this man's child is growing inside of her? Some victims are strong enough to carry on, but many others are not. They cannot except this pregnancy, mentally and emotionally. If abortion is made illegal, these women will be forced to endure this unnecessary trauma against their will. Many of them would likely seek to self-abort (which would surely leave permanent injury), or resort to suicide, killing both the victim and the child.
Get your head out of your ass and stop thinking about the baby for two seconds. Think about the mother.
The world isn't all rainbows and butterflies, and "OH, we MUST save all the beautiful babies" and "Everyone can live happily ever after if we all just forgive and love each other!". Grow up. In severe cases like rape, sometimes you need to choose one life or the other. No happily ever after.
And when it comes down to it, you need to ask yourself - "who's life is more important?".
The harsh answer is - the mother. The mother is more important than the unborn child, precisely because it IS UNBORN. It is not yet a human being. It is a mass of cells. It has the potential to be a human, but it is not. It cannot think. It cannot feel. It cannot breathe. It is the same mass as the fly on your bedroom wall. The potential for life dies out every time you menstruate. Yes, in the case of pregnancy, the egg is fertilized, but it is still only potential life at the common point of abortion.
The mother should not have to risk her own life and mental stability on a mere potential life.
The bottom line is that rape should not be taken lightly. Mental or psychological damage should not be taken lightly. I am tired of people brushing these things off simply because the damage is not physical or seen. It is just as real, and it is just as dangerous. A woman who has been raped and cannot mentally handle the pregnancy should not be treated any different than a woman who needs to abort because her life is in physical danger.
I have been in this abortion debate for the past day or two, and I cannot even understand where these pro-life people are coming from. I can understand your silly religious morals, and as a form of birth control I don't agree with abortion, but what it ultimately keeps coming back to is:
'In terms of rape, the mother should carry it to term and put it up for adoption.'
Or, and I love this one,
'In terms of rape, the mother should forgive the baby. It's not the baby's fault you were raped!'
I can argue from day to night with these people, but they cannot seem to understand the severity of mental trauma that stems from rape and sexual abuse. I have never been raped, and the closed-minded assumptions that I have been seeing disgust and offend me.
You have been battered, stripped, violated and humiliated at the highest degree. Most rape victims claim to feel dirty for days or weeks afterward, washing themselves over and over, but have mentally convinced themselves that they are still dirty. If they feel so strongly appalled by this man's very touch, then can you imagine how they would feel knowing that this man's child is growing inside of her? Some victims are strong enough to carry on, but many others are not. They cannot except this pregnancy, mentally and emotionally. If abortion is made illegal, these women will be forced to endure this unnecessary trauma against their will. Many of them would likely seek to self-abort (which would surely leave permanent injury), or resort to suicide, killing both the victim and the child.
Get your head out of your ass and stop thinking about the baby for two seconds. Think about the mother.
The world isn't all rainbows and butterflies, and "OH, we MUST save all the beautiful babies" and "Everyone can live happily ever after if we all just forgive and love each other!". Grow up. In severe cases like rape, sometimes you need to choose one life or the other. No happily ever after.
And when it comes down to it, you need to ask yourself - "who's life is more important?".
The harsh answer is - the mother. The mother is more important than the unborn child, precisely because it IS UNBORN. It is not yet a human being. It is a mass of cells. It has the potential to be a human, but it is not. It cannot think. It cannot feel. It cannot breathe. It is the same mass as the fly on your bedroom wall. The potential for life dies out every time you menstruate. Yes, in the case of pregnancy, the egg is fertilized, but it is still only potential life at the common point of abortion.
The mother should not have to risk her own life and mental stability on a mere potential life.
The bottom line is that rape should not be taken lightly. Mental or psychological damage should not be taken lightly. I am tired of people brushing these things off simply because the damage is not physical or seen. It is just as real, and it is just as dangerous. A woman who has been raped and cannot mentally handle the pregnancy should not be treated any different than a woman who needs to abort because her life is in physical danger.