{"id":204319,"date":"2019-06-11T09:22:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T14:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=204319"},"modified":"2019-06-11T12:33:49","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T17:33:49","slug":"valuing-life-pro-rape-speaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/valuing-life-pro-rape-speaks\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Valuing my life does not make me pro-rape’: Woman conceived in rape speaks out"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Save The 1<\/a>) In the past few days, I had thousands of abortion proponents come on my page<\/a> accusing me of being pro-rape because I actually love my life. Valuing my life does not make me pro-rape! I was raped myself when I was in law school. My abuser broke my jaw, and I lost my front tooth. Because of that, I\u2019m a family law attorney, and I\u2019ve spent my entire adult life advocating for women who have been victims of violence.<\/p>\n

Look, you can be pro-soldier and not pro-war. You can be pro-law enforcement and not pro-crime. You can be pro-firefighter and not pro-arson — even though it\u2019s true that without arson, there\u2019d be no firefighters. You can also be against IVF and against adultery, but support protecting the lives of unborn children conceived via those methods. President Obama was conceived in polygamy<\/a>. If you value his life, does that make you pro-polygamy? Frederick Douglass was conceived when his slave master\/rapist father raped his mother<\/a>. But who would ever say that calling Frederick Douglass one of the greatest heroes of our nation now makes you pro-rape and pro-slavery? He was an abolitionist who valued the dignity of all life! My life is valuable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rebecca Kiessling<\/p><\/div>\n

Nevertheless, those of us who are conceived in rape and others who speak up on our behalf are regularly accused now of being \u201crape apologists.\u201d For decades, I\u2019ve heard the same argument: \u201cIf your mother wasn\u2019t raped, you wouldn\u2019t be alive today, so if you \u2018love your life\u2019 then you must be pro-rape.\u201d In other words, if I\u2019m not suicidal and ashamed of my life, to them I am necessarily pro-rape. And then, being a pro-life speaker and activist on behalf of those conceived in rape, to them I\u2019m actively promoting rape.<\/p>\n

READ: Rape survivors and persons conceived in rape fight \u2018exceptions\u2019 in Iowa\u2019s heartbeat law<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post which went viral, thanks to the abortion advocates, is a photo of me with my three daughters, holding our pink signs from Save The 1: \u201cConceived in rape, I love my life\u201d and \u201cMy Mom was conceived in rape, I love our lives.\u201d Many accused my daughters of \u201ccelebrating Grandma\u2019s rape.\u201d They insulted my daughters. They noted how my mom is not in the picture, and suggested that she \u2013 the rape victim \u2013 must not \u201clove her life.\u201d They called me a poster child for why you should abort. They said I \u201ctake after daddy.\u201d God was called a rapist. And that\u2019s the tame<\/em> stuff. All of this is because I have the audacity to actually value my life.<\/p>\n

My personal story is that I was conceived when my birth mother was abducted at knife-point by a serial rapist and brutally raped. She went to two different illegal abortionists in Detroit — in December, 1968, and January, 1969 — and I was almost aborted, but she backed out because it was illegal, and because she had concerns for her own safety.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kiessling with her biological mother<\/p><\/div>\n

Even though she was thrilled to meet me, she was pro-choice when we met, and told me that she would have aborted me if it had been legal, and that it should have been her right. She maintained that position for the next six years. So I literally owe my birth to the pre-Roe v. Wade<\/em> laws in Michigan enacted in 1846 and 1931 \u2014 laws which protected me.<\/p>\n

I existed, and abortion would have ended my life. I didn\u2019t have a right to be created \u2013 that would be nonsense \u2013 but I had a right not to be killed.<\/p>\n

READ: I was conceived in rape, but I don\u2019t deserve the death penalty for the crimes of my father<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, my birth mom is thankful the law protected us when she chose to kill me 50 years ago. Her choice changed 25 years after she went to those two illegal abortionists. And she\u2019s glad she has me now. Legality matters.<\/p>\n

Out of her three children, I\u2019m the one of who cares for her, as she\u2019s completely estranged from my older half-siblings, whom she raised. My birth mom has come to hear me speak numerous times, and was even interviewed with me on the syndicated program “Extra” and in “Glamour” magazine. I have her blessing in my advocacy for others.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On my birthday nearly six years ago, my birth mother called to wish me happy birthday, and to tell me that my grandmother had died early that morning. I was born on her wedding anniversary. My birth mom and I had a long heart to heart, reminiscing. We\u2019d been to visit my grandmother together a couple of weeks earlier. After a stroke, she hadn\u2019t been looking up or smiling. Not only did I get her to smile, but I got her to laugh, because I sang to her. If you heard me sing, you would laugh too!<\/p>\n

I assured my birth mom that I was going to fly right home from visiting my husband\u2019s family so that I could be with her for the wake and the funeral, and that brought her great comfort. At the end of our long conversation, as we were about to hang up, my birth mom called out to me, \u201cRebecca! Rebecca!\u201d I said, \u201cYes, I\u2019m still here.\u201d Then she cried as if from deep within: \u201cI just want to say, I\u2019M SO GLAD I HAD YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That was the best birthday gift ever! More than four decades since she tried to end my life, more than two decades since she told me, \u201cIt should have been my right,\u201d she was able to speak those words to me.<\/p>\n

When you advocate for the protection of preborn children, just know that this is not merely a philosophical exercise, but know with confidence that because of your advocacy, there will one day be mothers who will be able to say to their children, \u201cI\u2019m so glad I had you.\u201d And that\u2019s what keeps me going.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Kiessling<\/a> is an attorney, international pro-life speaker, wife and mother of 5. She\u2019s the founder and president of Save The 1<\/a> \u2013 a global pro-life organization of over 800 conceived in rape and mothers who became pregnant by rape.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Save The 1<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a> for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Save The 1) In the past few days, I had thousands of abortion proponents come on my page accusing me of being pro-rape because I actually love my life. Valuing my life does not make me pro-rape! I was raped myself when I was in law school. My abuser broke my jaw, and I lost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271,"featured_media":204320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,9455],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'Valuing my life does not make me pro-rape': Woman conceived in rape speaks out<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pregnant after rape, Rebecca Kiessling's mother almost had an abortion. 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