And so every woman who wants an abortion will cry rape.
Could you, in good conscience, tell a young woman who has been raped (including even if by her own father) that she must, by penalty of law, be forced to carry the produce of an evil act to term ? I couldn’t. Mind you, I’m not talking about to the point where the fetus is viable, but in the brief period following the act. We can argue that the fetus is innocent, that goes without question, but this has legitimate claim to be a personal violation of the woman and psychological punishment (yes, again, you could argue she would suffer it even going through with the abortion, too).
I hate being put in the position of sounding like the pro-abort brigades, for whom most have no sense of morality when it comes to the unborn, but I’d rather see us successfully outlaw abortions of convenience (of which may be as high or higher than 90% of all those performed), than go the all-or-nothing route which sees abortion remain 100% legal. No state, no matter how Conservative, will approve of restrictions that include forcing the woman to carry even with rape and incest. You have to know that. It’s the difference between women engaged in risky behavior that should know better vs. those that are innocent of engaging in questionable or risky behavior. I’ll add, too, I knew someone who came perilously close to being a victim of incest, and had she been forceably impregnated, if forced by the state to carry, she would’ve committed suicide. No amount of “counseling” would’ve stopped her.