“Posted on 08/21/2012 2:53:18 PM PDT by NYer
Rebecca Kiessling, a pro-life attorney from Michigan, fully understands the national debate going on concerning the controversial comments Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin made about abortion and rape. Kiessling was conceived when her mother was victimized by a rapist.
“It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, if it’s a legitimate rape, that’s really rare. The female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said. “The punishment ought to be on the rapist, and not in attacking the child.”
Kiessling responded to the comments saying that the use of the term “legitimate rape” was unnecessary and improper and she gave her advice for how pro-life candidates can thoughtfully and articulately address the sensitive subject of rape and abortion.
“
First of all — never say ‘legitimate rape,’” Kiessling said. “Ron Paul used the same terminology last January and he got lambasted for it too. This kind of remark only serves to perpetuate the suspicion of rape victims’ accounts. It’s estimated that only 1% of rape victims ever see their rapist convicted as charged. Rape is rape. “Legitimate rape” almost sounds as if it was somehow justifiable.”
“If you are 100% pro-life with no rape exceptions, there is no need to question the veracity of a rape victims’ account, because you are against all abortions. It would not matter if a woman was not or not raped,” she continued.
While abortion advocates often talk about supporting a woman’s right to privacy, Kiessling says rape exceptions in abortion laws turn that notion on its head.
“Rape exceptions in the law actually put the government in the position of having to ascertain when the child was conceived, who the father is, whether the child was conceived during the alleged rape or during intercourse with her husband or boyfriend, and if the child was conceived during the time frame of the alleged rape, then the government would need to determine whether the sexual intercourse was consensual or not,” she explained. “So rape exceptions serve to perpetuate the injustice against rape victims that their accounts are to be viewed with skepticism, and it further leaves the majority of impregnated rape victims wholly unprotected under the law. Rape exceptions suggest that a “real rape victim” couldn’t possibly love “the rapist’s baby” and that rape victim mothers don’t exist.”
The pro-life attorney says pro-life candidates need to be coached on how to answer the media’s inevitable question.
“Senator Rick Santorum, during his presidential campaign, said that he thinks that a child conceived in rape is “a gift from God,” and he was made fun of for that. Just Google images for “Santorum rape” and you’ll see all of the posters where he is mocked for this statement. While I believe it’s true that every child is a gift from God, including children conceived in rape, I don’t believe this was the best response for the interview,” she explained. “If it had been my birthmother sharing that she believes that I’m a blessing and a gift from God, she would not be mocked and ridiculed in the same way he was. And then Sharron Angle, during her Senate race in Nevada, said it’s a “lemonade situation,” which did not come across well at all. The problem is not with these candidates’ values. The problem is how they express them.”
Kiessling gives a three-step process in terms of how candidates should answer the question:
1. The Supreme Court has said that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment for rapists and that rapists don’t deserve the death penalty. I don’t think the innocent child conceived in rape deserves the death penalty for the crimes of her father. It seems to me that is cruel and unusual punishment.
2. Rape victims are four times more likely to die within the next year after the abortion, with a higher rate of suicide, murder, drug overdose, etc.. As someone who really cares about rape victims, I want to protect them from the rapist, and from the abortion, and not the baby. A baby is not the worst thing that could ever happen to a rape victim — an abortion is. We need to educate the American public on the truth in this matter and not make public policy based on myth and misinformation.
3. Rape victims choose abortion at half the rate of the average unplanned pregnancy, which is over 50%. Only 15-25% of rape victims choose abortion, depending on the study. The majority of rape victims choose to raise her child — not “the rapist’s baby” — HER child.
Of course, I also think it helps to share a personal story and there are lots available, of women who became pregnant by rape and either regret aborting, are raising their children or are birth-moms, as well as stories of those of us conceived in rape and/or incest. You can find those stories on my website: www.rebeccakiessling.com/Othersconceivedinrape.html and www.rebeccakiessling.com/PregnantByRape.html
What’s then a just penalty, and for whom?
And whose skin cells are those?
The question isn't, "what is human life?" The question is "what is a person?"
According to whom...a bunch of wild-eyed baby-killing packer/muncher partisan hacks?
Personhood is determined by those who have reached the age of reason. ie. adults
Wow, you really think a lot of yourself, sounds like a contrived legal definition which flies in the face of natural law.
There is no baby and you and your cohorts are not the owners of it.
Of course there is and nobody claimed to be the owner of it. But we are devoted to its protection as an individual.
Do you not believe in the B
Thank you.
You seem to have the position that only your ideas or position matters. A growing majority of adults disagree with you. Thank God, enough babies have been murdered
Really? He attributed independent thought to the uterus? Please point me to his words in that regard. Thanks.
Thanks for the link.
I’ve bookmarked her page for future reference.
There is certainly nothing wrong with holding that sentiment.
It is up to the victims of rape to make their own decisions however.
The govt makes all kinds of rules, including those little tags on our pillows. A govt of the people can most certainly decide to outlaw abortin. Ust as it outlaws many other activities.
Thanks Glock Rocks. I like to mention things that are new to me, thinking perhaps those things may be new to others also, and perhaps they may recognize them as something they missed during the reading.
I appreciate the note of agreement.
That factoid is incredible to me. I have always thought it was a tough call forcing a girl or woman to deliver the fruits of a rape, even if we were talking about a little human being.
Then there’s the mention of the factoid that women who have aborted their fetus conceived by rape, are four times more likely to die in the first year post abortion.
Good grief, these two factoids are devastating to the argument that rape victims should be allowed to abort their fetus.
I’m going to have to keep these things in mind, when folks raise this issue. It’s not information I’ve had in my intellectual arsenal before this.
How's that going to work? Does she practice drawing during a dream, or stand ready before she passes out?
Maybe she should never party and get drunk with a bunch of low-life rabid ejaculating animals. That way should she find herself in a dangerous one-on-one situation, she can either ward off or shoot the rapist.
In general, heaven forbid, maybe she should keep her pants on until she gets married.
No, obviously. The rapists should have gone to prison for lifeor been executed. The story came to light because the judge stipulated that the young woman not release the names of her rapists, which she did and was threatened with contempt.
Re: It's the owner's decision whether they're wanted and it's also the owner's decision whether or not to leave them hanging there, or to rip up the whole plant and toss it in the compost heap.
" I guess that is an expression of your respect for the value of human life...except tomatoes aren't human"
If tomatoes aren't human, then why did you bring them up and refer to them as were human life?
"And whose skin cells are those?"
Oscar's.
"Do you not believe in the B"
No, just the A.
Situational awareness 101.
“It’s hell being born in the 50’s, and having a notion of ‘normal.’”
Yep, remember those old “despicable” shows like “Father Knows Best”, “Leave it to Beaver”, “The Nelsons”, and Lassie? LOL
Even shows like the “Lone Ranger” were instilling a decent values set in children.
And you know what, those shows infuriate some people. I don’t give a damn what color those folks were, they were great shows. I liked Amos and Andy too. Should I be trashing it now because it involved Blacks? Not gonna happen! It was a great slice of life.
I know where you’re coming from. I certainly agree.
I'm glad she did that and no one, including the judge challenged her. The judge deserves to be removed and the perps should have received some significant time.
I'm talking about what is essentially contraception here and in that sphere I know you are incorrect, especially the part about a woman ridding herself of unwanted near embryos and they being considered as "babies" and being "murdered". The same goes for embryos in a petri dish in an fertility clinic; it is not a pool of people.
Well they are a form of life, but according to your logic the tomatoes are not really tomatoes because they are still attached to an umbilical cord. Of course the tomatoes are indisputably tomatoes and alive either way...attached or not.
"And whose skin cells are those?"
Oscar's.
Aaaaaaaa....wrong answer. The cells belong exclusively to the baby, they define its individuality.
You did...take biology in Junior High did you not? Or did you flunk?
Killing a baby after it is conceived is not contraception.
Outstanding article. This woman is truly doing the Lord’s work here. God bless her for it.
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