{"id":332388,"date":"2025-06-09T14:52:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T19:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=332388"},"modified":"2025-06-11T01:23:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T06:23:58","slug":"abortion-after-rape-tragic-response-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-after-rape-tragic-response-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion after rape: A tragic response to a heinous act of violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Many people who consider themselves “pro-life” also support ‘exceptions’ for the ‘hard cases’ such as rape and incest because they think it is a compassionate and merciful position \u2014 but is it?<\/p>\n

POINTS TO CONSIDER<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Being consistently pro-life means the circumstances of a human being’s conception are not a factor in whether that human deserves legal protection.<\/li>\n
  • Dehumanizing children conceived in rape dehumanizes their mothers as well, treating them both as damaged.<\/li>\n
  • Many women who conceived as a result of rape have chosen to abort and regretted it, or conversely chosen life and found it helped them to heal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    A CONTROVERSIAL BILL<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    A Louisiana House committee recently voted<\/a> 3-9 to reject a bill that would have removed protections for preborn children conceived in rape whose mothers are under age 17.<\/p>\n

    The bill, HB215<\/a>, would have provided “exceptions to the abortion laws of this state to rape and certain sex offenses.” It would have applied to children under 17 and would not<\/strong> have required a police report, investigative report, forensic evidence, or prosecution for rape for a minor to qualify for an abortion. It stated:<\/p>\n

    Present law defines “abortion” and provides a list of acts performed by a physician that shall not, by definition, be considered acts of abortion.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Proposed law amends present law and provides that “abortion” is not the termination of a pregnancy that is the result of an act that constitutes any of the following offenses when victim is under 17 years of age:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    (1) Rape (R.S. 14:41). (2) First degree rape (R.S. 14:42). (3) Second degree rape (R.S. 14:42.1). (4) Third degree rape (R.S. 14:43). (5) Sexual battery (R.S. 14:43.1). (6) Felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile (R.S. 14:80).(7) Molestation of a juvenile or a person with a physical or mental disability (R.S. 14:81.2). (8) Crime against nature (R.S. 14:89). (9) Aggravated crime against nature (R.S. 14:89.1)<\/em><\/p>\n

    The bill was brought by Rep. Delisha Boyd, a Democrat who had previously testified that her mother was raped by an older man at 15 and became pregnant with her, giving birth in 1969. She said it was an act of “statutory rape” but that her mother struggled following Boyd’s birth and tragically died at age 28 from a drug overdose.<\/p>\n

    “She didn’t die in childbirth,” said<\/a> Boyd, “but ultimately she lost her life because of what happened to her.”<\/p>\n

    Though Boyd said she does not regret<\/a> having been born, she feels her mother lost her life so that she<\/em> could live. She said that how her<\/em> life turned out is an “exception to the rule,” implying that most children conceived in rape do not have good outcomes.<\/p>\n

    However, Rep. Patricia Moore, also a Democrat, shared that she, too, was conceived due to sexual assault when her mother was raped at age 14 in the 1950s. But she spoke out against<\/em> the bill.<\/p>\n

    “I cannot be God,” Moore said. She added:<\/p>\n

    “As I got more mature in my faith, I just realized that no matter how you came in this world, whether it was rape, incest or whatever, God wanted you to come in this world and he’s going to provide for you. I look back at my life and I see He took care of me but it was not easy.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    Moore said<\/a> her family never talked about it, but she knew that even though abortion was illegal at the time, her mother still had a choice to seek out an abortion. Instead, her mother gave birth and placed Moore with her great-grandmother.<\/p>\n