Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 12:17am

Enough is Enough: Rape Babies Don’t Deserve Death

Thank the Good Lord I am not a politician. If I were running for office, what I am about to write would undoubtedly cause me to plummet in the polls and induce a heart attack for my campaign manager. It is up to us – bloggers, polemicists, wags, editorialists, etc. – to say plainly and boldly what politicians cannot say. By now hundreds if not thousands of us on the pro-life side of the spectrum have weighed in on the mountain that the Obama campaign and the leftist media have made out of the molehill of the “rape exception” that many self-identified pro-lifers hold. FYI: it is a molehill not because rape is no big deal, but because less than 1% of abortions are performed on rape babies. I don’t know if what I have to say will be different from what you have read, but I’m about to douse this issue in gasoline and light a match, so check yourselves now.

When Todd Akin made his remarks about pregnancy becoming difficult or impossible in the case of rape, he was roundly denounced from the grassroots to the establishment levels of pro-life politics. In that case, I thought it was fair enough to chastise a man who decided to speak about a sensitive topic on which he was obviously not well-versed. The actual content of his remarks was not offensive. It is in fact true that heightened levels of stress can reduce the chances of pregnancy, and rape is obviously a stressful situation to say the least. But this probability reduction certainly isn’t significant enough to mention in a public interview, especially when that particular part of Akin’s response had nothing to do with the question being asked. For his ineptitude, he was rightly scorned.

Now we have Richard Mourdock. Just Googling his name right now gets me the following hit: “Richard Mourdock, Mitt Romney, and the GOP Defense of Coerced Mating.” I won’t even bother with a hyperlink. If you want to dig through the digital trash and find it, be my guest. The title alone says more than whatever vapid leftish commentary contained beneath it will. Anyone who isn’t a despicable liar knows that no one in the GOP has ever publicly defended or apologized for rape. In fact, Republicans are far more likely to advocate executing rapists or at least extending their prison sentences than Democrats. Do we even need to discuss at length the disconnect in the thinking of people who make deterministic excuses for every sort of violent criminal and then cry to the heavens at the thought that someone might have made an excuse for the crime they committed? If some (not all, of course) of the same people screaming and whining now about Mourdock were in charge of the criminal justice system, it might look a little something like this. How would the political pawns rape victims feel about that?

But that’s a ways off. Let’s return to the present: what did Mourdock say that was so terribly wrong? That out of tragedy, God can make something good. Out of pain and suffering, a miracle can occur. He most certainly did not say that God wills for a person to be raped. Only men, using the free will that fashionable academics and Calvinists deny, can do that. There’s really nothing more to it than that. I won’t spend more time on it because it has already been discussed to death.

But I do want to focus on the deeper issues raised by this phony controversy. It is important to speak truth to power, and that is what we are always doing when are speaking on behalf of beings that cannot speak for themselves, imploring those with power over them to spare their lives because the laws will not do so as they ought. It is not said quite so bluntly in the the soft conservative media, but the basic premise of the “rape exception” position grows from the same root of the emotional outrage of the left, which is the idea that rape babies deserve to die. Even people who find the abortion of merely unwanted babies distasteful can’t agree fast enough that if a woman is impregnated as a result of rape, absolutely nothing should stand between her and the nearest baby butcher.

I can live with the fact that the vast majority of people are morally inconsistent, and that they don’t spend nearly as much time as they ought thinking about the difficult moral questions that every generation has to face. Fine. But that has no bearing on what people who know better have an obligation to say and do in public, before the world, as representatives of the pro-life cause. So I think perhaps every GOP politician ought to be forced to memorize a pat answer that can be instantly deployed whenever a leftist weasel attempts to get them to say something incriminating. It might go something like this:

Totally Unbiased Journalist With No Ulterior Motive: So, is it true that you think women who are raped should be forced to carry their rapists baby? That she shouldn’t have the right to control her own body in this most terrible situation?

Informed Pro-Life Politician: Let me tell you what I think. I believe, first of all, that it is never permissible, under any circumstances, to willfully and knowingly take the life of an innocent human being. This is not simply a position that is dictated to me by my church or my pastor, but it follows from our shared heritage of natural law, respect for human rights, and the protection of the most vulnerable members of our society. Rape is a barbaric act deserving of the most severe penalties that we can get away with under the 8th amendment. But while individuals may commit barbaric acts every day, we do not become a barbaric society until we institutionalize and legitimize barbarism as we have with abortion on demand.

Our civilization rests upon the recognition of certain inalienable human rights, and the first of these is the right to life. A rapist takes away a woman’s control of her own body in the most vile way imaginable. But an innocent unborn child does no such thing. It had no say over the circumstances that brought it into this world. Because it is innocent, an act of violence against it would be an immoral act of aggression. Moreover, in our society, there are many organizations that are able and willing to provide aid to the victims of rape and to pregnant women in every sort of difficult circumstance. There are also millions of couples willing to adopt every kind of child, even those with serious disabilities. All of this taken into consideration, it would unconscionable to argue that children who are the product of consensual relations are worthy of protection under the law, while those who are the product of rape are marked for death. Whether one is pro-life or pro-choice, the circumstances of life’s creation can have no bearing on the legal status of that life if we are to be honest and consistent as a society.

And yes I know all about Romney’s rape exception. Who doesn’t? If I can actually hold my paleo-libertarian nose long and hard enough to cast my vote for him contra Obama (who supports infanticide, which is far worse than a “rape exception”), it will have nothing to do with this issue. Romney likely won’t even be able to do much about the 99+% of abortions that have nothing to do with rape, so it wouldn’t be sensible to expect anything on behalf of rape babies, the most disposable non-human non-members of society.

Finally: I already know the standard objection. I am a heartless jerk who doesn’t care about women. Well, how about this: I support the second amendment rights of women, so that they can obtain weapons and defend themselves. I support laws that allow them to do so with lethal force and without fear of juridical reprisal. I believe penalties for rape should be severe enough to serve as a real deterrent, which they never will as long as left-wing lawyers and judges dominate the judicial system. I believe radical pro-choice outfits should stop harassing pro-life pregnancy centers and other organizations that are out there providing millions of women with financial, social and emotional support. And at the end of the day, I don’t believe that women who actually go through with an abortion under such circumstances should be thrown in prison, but I do believe that the medical frauds who kill babies for a living should be tossed into a dungeon and the keys jettisoned into outer space.

 

 

 

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philip
philip
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 5:36am

Amen!

PM
PM
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 6:40am

” … I believe penalties for rape should be severe enough to serve as a real deterrent, which they never will as long as left-wing lawyers and judges dominate the judicial system. I believe radical pro-choice outfits should stop harassing pro-life pregnancy centers and other organizations that are out there providing millions of women with financial, social and emotional support. …”

Add on severe penalties for life-threatening criminal activity in general, and watch them think before acting.

Harassment is becoming something dangerous, as this election season is revealing it. We have leaders so irresponsible as to incite their base, rather than to caution about right and wrong or to give them credit for brains.

The Richter Scale has numbers that apply exponentially to damage potential. The law does not. Killing children, and using Roe v. Wade for political gain and division of citizens, is not high-minded or related to peace.

Paul W. Primavera
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 7:07am

Ditto, Bonchamps! – “Well, how about this: I support the second amendment rights of women, so that they can obtain weapons and defend themselves. I support laws that allow them to do so with lethal force and without fear of juridical reprisal. I believe penalties for rape should be severe enough to serve as a real deterrent, which they never will as long as left-wing lawyers and judges dominate the judicial system. I believe radical pro-choice outfits should stop harassing pro-life pregnancy centers and other organizations that are out there providing millions of women with financial, social and emotional support. And at the end of the day, I don’t believe that women who actually go through with an abortion under such circumstances should be thrown in prison, but I do believe that the medical frauds who kill babies for a living should be tossed into a dungeon and the keys jettisoned into outer space.”

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Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 8:16am

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Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 8:50am

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Foxfier
Admin
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 10:12am

I’ve got a rather scathing response about my knowledge of basic biology meaning that I recognize an embryo is human from conception, and likewise is alive, and that if I were going to kill someone involved in a rape it would be the rapist, not someone who has the horrible luck to be genetically related to him.

Chris Pennington
Chris Pennington
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 1:08pm

Not doubting your 1% statistic but wondering where it comes from? I have heard it often but have never seen a source.

Foxfier
Admin
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 1:23pm

The less than 1% result keeps showing up, even in pro-abortion studies.

Victims suggest that 1) a lot of rapes resulting in pregnancy aren’t reported, and 2) abortion makes it worse for the victim. (Shocker, women aren’t stupid just because they were raped.)

Alphatron Shinyskullus
Alphatron Shinyskullus
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 1:27pm

Bravo!

Tony H
Tony H
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 11:27pm

Great post. I agree with your statement that the vast majority of people are morally inconsistent. You’re also correct that people who make policy statements in public don’t have the excuse of not having thought the matter through.
For this reason, I believe that politicians who claim to be pro-life, yet condone killing babies conceived during rape (like Mourdoch’s opponent) are not sincerely pro-life.
The logical distance between acknowledging that life begins at conception and its protection no matter how it came to be is so short that the smallest amount of contemplation should be sufficient to make the jump. I think the pro-life movement would be well served by an information campaign to push this.
Inconsistent politicians have no logical excuse. I believe that politicians who hold “semi” pro-life positions do so for purely political reasons (coughRomneycough).

Richard
Richard
Sunday, October 28, AD 2012 11:49pm

What is to be said to those who have bought into the entire lie that pro-abortion advocates claim is the reason for safe and legal abortion? Those who have been decieved and brain washed are so misguided by those they believe that the words of those who wish to give them the correct information and guidance are regarded as extremist who are waging a war against women. The information that is presented to them shows them the truth but they do not recognize the truth. All they see is what there are told. I have relatives who are very close to me who I have had “discussions” with about abortion who listen and at that moment hear the truth and recognize it and agree with what they are being shown yet afterwards they still vote for the party that continues to lie to them. So once again.
What is to be said to those who have bought into the entire lie that pro-abortion advocates claim is the reason for safe and legal abortion?

Jeanne Rohl
Jeanne Rohl
Monday, October 29, AD 2012 10:56am

First Person Account: A devout Catholic young woman was raped by a hired hand on her father’s farm in the 1930’s. Imagine the disgrace. A devout Catholic man met her and realized the severity of the situation and that he also had loved this young woman for some time. He asked her to marry him! He told her he would adopt the child as his own. Imagine the disgrace for him. Stories flew for years and years with the gossips of the small community. Many people thought they “had to get married”. You know you just did not talk about such things in those days. “They” had a baby girl which they named after the woman who “wiped” the face of Jesus. This couple went on to have 12 more children. This couple was married for 60 years. They both died the most beautiful deaths I have ever witnessed. On his deathbed his last words were, “eye has not seen, ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love Him”. “Their” little girl went on to have a wonderful family of 9 children and her husband has been a champion for the Right to Life”. She has passed now, and her husband is dying of cancer. They have 30 grandchildren many of whom are adopted. Most of who are practising Catholic or members of fundamental churches. Her life was inportant just as the woman who “wiped” the face of Jesus. And we have always thought we had our “own” St. Joseph example in our lives. Pity the world.

Donald R. McClarey
Reply to  Jeanne Rohl
Monday, October 29, AD 2012 11:25am

Very moving Jeanne. No rapes in my family history that I am aware of, but my mother was born out of wedlock in 1936. My grandmother rolled up her sleeves, went to work, and my mom was raised by her grandmother while her mom worked during the day. Money was often tight, the big treat each week was on Saturday night when my mom and my grandmother would each have a cookie and a glass of milk, but love was in abundance. Love usually finds a way to triumph over all adversities.

Paul W. Primavera
Monday, October 29, AD 2012 2:23pm

People make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes are sexual ones (anyone here not make a sexual mistake?), and sometimes those sexual mistakes have consequences, like an unintended pregnancy. The liberal left doesn’t want consequences, either sexual ones or economic ones. The liberal left wants complete license to do what it wants whenever it wants regardless of circumstance or consequence, and someone else is supposed to pay the price, whether that be the tax payer for free health care or an unborn baby who will be sacrificed for mere covenience’s sake. Therefore, I like what Donald wrote: ” No rapes in my family history that I am aware of, but my mother was born out of wedlock in 1936.  My grandmother rolled up her sleeves, went to work, and my mom was raised by her grandmother while her mom worked during the day.  Money was often tight, but love was in abundance.  Love usually finds a way to triumph over all adversities.”

Love covers a multitude of sins. Isn’t that somewhere in the Bible? 😉

Jeanne Rohl
Jeanne Rohl
Tuesday, October 30, AD 2012 1:12pm

Has anyone else noticed the Planned Parenthood ad on this site?

Mike Petrik
Mike Petrik
Tuesday, October 30, AD 2012 1:29pm

Wow, Jeanne. Thanks for posting that.

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