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Pregnant at 17 After a Brutal Rape and Encouraged to Abort, Here’s How I Responded
Life News ^ | May 22, 2015 | Deana Schroeder

Posted on 05/23/2015 12:54:02 PM PDT by kathsua

I’ve been there. I was 17, drugged and raped. When I learned I was pregnant, my family, counselors, and doctors took control.

They intended the best. They wanted to help me. And even though there are literally no studies showing any benefit from abortion, they had total confidence in the social myth that abortion is the best option, even the only option, in cases of sexual assault.

Even many pro-lifers approve of abortions in cases of rape. So surely it must be the best choice, right?

Not in my case. It just added more layers of trauma, self-doubt, grief and guilt. The negative impact lasted for years.

I’m not alone.

A national study found that half of the estimated 32,000 rape pregnancies which occur each year end in abortion. Note: half. Not even 60 percent.

That so many women choose to give birth after rape, despite the social expectations and pressure to abort, should give you pause. Why aren’t all rape victims embracing the conventional wisdom that abortion is the best treatment for rape pregnancies?

A hint is found in another study of 164 women who had rape pregnancies (conducted for the book Victims and Victors). In that study, the majority of those who had abortions said it only caused additional problems and the vast majority regretted having abortions. By contrast, among those who delivered the child, satisfaction was higher and none stated any regret for giving birth.

Why are these facts so little known? It is because many people on both sides of the abortion debate are more concerned with their ideologies than they are the complex nitty-gritty details which confound sound bites.

Because the actual experiences of pregnant sexual assault victims have not been widely heard, the social myth that abortion is the best, or even the only, option in cases of rape pregnancies is almost universally accepted. This universal myth creates its own set of problems for women.

When a pregnant sexual assault victim balks at having an abortion, she will almost immediately faces queries of suspicion from family and friends. How can any woman have a rapist’s child, they wonder? And then the suspicion mounts . . . maybe she lied. Maybe she was not really the victim of a “legitimate” rape?

And so the assumption that surely a real rape victim would want an abortion creates a new pressure on hurting women, in a time of intense crisis, to accept the recommendation of abortion, despite moral qualms and heightened sensitivity to victimization, to swallow their reservations and have the abortion if only to silence the rising doubts about their rape story.

sadwoman25

I hope I’ve convinced you that the rape and abortion issue is not as simple as you’ve always assumed.

It’s time to replace posturing with knowledge. And in this case, knowledge can come only from those who have actually been there.

LifeNews Note: Deana Schroeder is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant By Sexual Assault (WPSA). Share this story:


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: prolife; rape
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The fact that a child might be conceived after a rape isn't the child's fault and the child shouldn't be punished for the crimes of the father. The Constitution prohibits government from punishing someone for the crimes of the parent(s). Why should anyone else punish a child for something she didn't do.
1 posted on 05/23/2015 12:54:03 PM PDT by kathsua
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To: kathsua

Quite a different point of view than Obama’s,”I don’t want my daughters to be punished with a child”.


2 posted on 05/23/2015 12:57:53 PM PDT by conservativejoy (We Can Elect Ted Cruz! Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God!)
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To: kathsua

Solution; the rapist(S) gets arrested looted and then HUNG(quickly)... (all of them)... including gang rape..

In every case ZERO mitigating circumstances..


3 posted on 05/23/2015 12:59:03 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited (specifically) to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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To: kathsua

What a strong witness that is!


4 posted on 05/23/2015 1:07:30 PM PDT by al_c (Obama's standing in the world has fallen so much that Kenya now claims he was born in America.)
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To: hosepipe
Solution; the rapist(S) gets arrested looted and then HUNG(quickly)... (all of them)... including gang rape..

In every case ZERO mitigating circumstances..

Dangerous in today's world where a man who buys a woman and himself drinks is considered to have drugged and raped her if they have sex and she regrets it.

5 posted on 05/23/2015 1:11:06 PM PDT by 5thGenTexan
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To: conservativejoy

I agree with Obama on this one. I don’t want his daughters punished with children either. One Obama is enough.


6 posted on 05/23/2015 1:11:42 PM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: al_c

Just noticed your tagline. Very Neat!!:):)

I agree. This young woman showed a lot of character and courage. God bless her!


7 posted on 05/23/2015 1:12:12 PM PDT by conservativejoy (We Can Elect Ted Cruz! Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God!)
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To: 17th Miss Regt

You have a point. :)


8 posted on 05/23/2015 1:13:28 PM PDT by conservativejoy (We Can Elect Ted Cruz! Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God!)
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To: 5thGenTexan

The Lord Himself outlined a number of things that were tantamount to fornication and to murder.

We treat that lightly at our peril. Even the Old Testament eye for an eye system had barriers built in requiring multiple witnesses for a conviction. If carried further, we get the situation that Mahatma Gandhi warned about, an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. All are sinners.

In general the way to grace is a way that involves amends where possible.


9 posted on 05/23/2015 1:16:48 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: kathsua

Even worse, abortion is not punishment. It is termination. Killing a baby for the sins of the father is the most primitive act of vengeance. It assumes that the mother is not in fact the baby’s mother but is merely an unwilling vessel for the rapist’s sperm.
Demanding that a mother murder her child after violence has been done to her compounds the evil, forcing her into a maelstrom of unmitigated horror.
There is no greater evil than the deliberate slaughter of the unborn.


10 posted on 05/23/2015 1:21:23 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
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To: kathsua
It’s time to replace posturing with knowledge.


God forbid we should hinder the agenda of the democrat with truth, knowledge, understanding, compassion, and/or life.

11 posted on 05/23/2015 1:27:53 PM PDT by The_Republic_Of_Maine (In an Oligarchy, the serfs don't count.)
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To: kathsua

this has always bothered me too. the notion that somehow “rape or incest” is a special case where the baby isn’t actually a baby and therefore it’s ok to kill it if it makes the victim feel better.

life is life. either you believe in the sanctity of innocent life or you don’t. there is no grey area.

the illogic of the pro-abortion stance and the contortions they have to make in their thought processes to justify their beliefs leave me bewildered. so far as i can tell, the baby is only a baby if the mother thinks it’s a baby. if she doesn’t think it’s a baby, then it is just a part of her body that can be discarded like a recently clipped fingernail. and what’s more, the feelings of the mother are allowed to change minute by minute and day by day and that’s somehow supposed to be overlooked as well (i.e. if it was a baby yesterday, then how is it not a baby today?).

it’s such a hard discussion to have with pro-abortionists. simply trying to get them to see the inherent logically inconsistencies in their beliefs. it’s frustrating, but critical thinking skills were one of the first casualties removed from the curriculum when the cultural marxists took control of the public school system.


12 posted on 05/23/2015 1:28:44 PM PDT by TangibleDisgust (The Parmesan doesn't go like that.)
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To: 5thGenTexan

Which is a real good reason for a man to not pick up strange women for sex.

A woman who goes off to have sex with a man she just met is quite literally putting her life into the hands of someone she doesn’t know.

A man who does the same is seldom in the same physical risk, but his future is very much at risk.


13 posted on 05/23/2015 1:39:33 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: TangibleDisgust

The rape exception makes some sense, since the woman did not consent to the sex that resulted in the pregnancy.

The incest exception makes no sense at all. If the female is underage or unwilling, it’s rape. If she’s a consenting adult, why should she have extra rights simply because she chose to have sex with a relative rather than someone else?


14 posted on 05/23/2015 1:42:12 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: conservativejoy

It seemed Obama was saying that children, including his, were punishments.


15 posted on 05/23/2015 2:01:15 PM PDT by Twinkie (John 3:16)
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To: Twinkie

Obama is extremely cold hearted . He supported and voted for late term abortions in his home state.


16 posted on 05/23/2015 2:19:39 PM PDT by conservativejoy (We Can Elect Ted Cruz! Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God!)
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To: 5thGenTexan

Dangerous in today’s world where a man who buys a woman and himself drinks is considered to have drugged and raped her if they have sex and she regrets it.


What if they got married first...
I KNOW this RADICAL thought.. almost UNHOLY in modern parlance..
BUT.......... it could be done... (like it used to be done in most places)..

Slouching toward Gomorrah seems to be done in degrees..
Humans can become moral maggots..


17 posted on 05/23/2015 2:41:14 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited (specifically) to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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To: Sherman Logan

neither make sense.

the circumstances of conception do not alter the fact that a fetus (unborn baby) is a separate and distinct human life from the mother (it has its own unique DNA) and is entitled to protection.


18 posted on 05/23/2015 2:47:35 PM PDT by TangibleDisgust (The Parmesan doesn't go like that.)
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To: kathsua

Importantly, if a woman who has been raped wants to carry the baby to term, she absolutely must “register” the rape as criminal rape. The reason being that some rapists actually have the gall to try and claim parenthood, entirely out of hate and the wish to further traumatize and dominate their victim. Sometimes to blackmail the family of their victim to be paid to go away.

It sounds truly twisted, and that is what it is. However, if the criminal rape has been registered, the DNA of the child is evidential against the rapist. Instead of further abusing his victim, he will find himself on trial for rape. And likely extortion.


19 posted on 05/23/2015 3:00:50 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Good counsel. Part of that would be living a life where you know something happened if you pass out from a date-rape drug, so you can report it immediately. For those who get drunk and pass out sometimes, they might not know they’ve been drugged. And if they’ve slept around, becoming pregnant might not give them the clue that they’ve been raped, either.


20 posted on 05/23/2015 3:38:29 PM PDT by butterdezillion (.)
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