Why support abortion for rape victims?

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You are right about this. I disagree with dizzywater idea that disallowing abortions of pregnancies that result from voluntary sex would constitute strangers dictating "who deserves a choice and who doesn't deserve a choice." This is because the choice is having sex in the first place. Sex causes pregnancy, which involves the creation of a new life. Abstaining from sex will always prevent pregnancy. The woman has a choice. But see The Virgin Mary.

When there is an unwanted pregnancy that results from the voluntary choice of the pregnant woman, the unborn baby, who did nothing wrong and did not choose to be conceived, can be killed or the woman, who caused the pregnancy, can carry the pregnancy to term. Morally speaking, killing someone is worse than requiring someone to appropriately deal with the natural consequences of their behavior (i.e., requiring someone to carry a voluntary pregnancy to term). Furthermore, the person who would be "forced" to endure the lesser "punishment" of carrying the pregnancy to term is the more culpable person than the person that would be subject to the greater "punishment" of death. Does that make sense?

It's not that you are being punished for having sex, it's that you are accepting the consequence of having it. When having sex you are always taking a risk, that's life. You take risks, and you have to accept the consequences if the risk falls through. By if you don't have sex you don't have any risk of getting pregnant, so if you don't want to have any unwanted pregnancies you can just avoid having sex. This is what makes rape different. Now, for biological reasons that means guys don't have as much risk with sex, and that disadvantage is unfair and abortions overcome that, but that's a different debate.

It really can't be put any plainer: if you think abortion is wrong, don't have one.

If you think abortion is wrong and you are male, don't have sex with women unless you are prepared to father any children that result from it.

Otherwise, butt out.

/\/\/\ Agreed! Genius and simply put.

So the fact that a fetus is not a person until it's born are irrelevant to you? Until it's born, it has no more legal standing than a tapeworm.

I still think that this "greater good" argument is very flawed. The idea that the woman is the less guilty party if she is raped doesn't make sense. She did not cause the pregnancy, granted, but neither did the baby. These are the two in question. The guilty party has left the scene. So why is it ok to abort that innocent baby if you believe that abortion is wrong and bringing a baby to birth is more important than the mother's ability to cope?

I don't know of any country which has this distinction in its abortion laws, yet I keep reading it as a widely held exception. Where I live pregnancy from rape cannot be aborted, same as any other pregnancy, its illegal and that is that. I am inclined to agree with an earlier post that it is just rhetoric, the woman could never prove the rape in time, if at all, so its not really an exception they would make in practice.

No-one answered my question about statutory rape of a minor, should all underage girls be allowed abortions on the grounds they weren't legally able to make the choice about taking the risk of having sex?

This distinction does seem to be a case of people wanting to blame a woman and make her suffer the consequences. The idea that its simple for a woman to choose to abstain from sex is wrong. If she has children for example, is married and wants to stay that way, how can she decide that she is never having sex again until she wants another baby? Such a decision would cause unnecessary problems in the relationship, but a baby they can't afford or who is severely disabled may cause bigger problems. In the "for the greater good" argument, there are many more circumstances than rape which make continuing the pregnancy not for "the greater good".

Indeed, it doesn't make any sense because she is not guilty at all.

Wait... what baby? Weren't we talking about rape and abortion?

Sure, 100%, ... duh?

What about males that can get pregnant if raped?

Wait... what baby? Weren't we talking about abortion?



Woman caused 1/2 of the pregnancy.


1) Killing someone? Weren't we talking about abortion? Since abortion doesn't kill someone, but a fetus that has just a potential to become someone, the point is moot.
2) You are not just requiring someone to deal with the consequences of behavior, but you are invading this someone's body and dictating what to do with it.
3) "The consequence of the behavior", is unintended pregnancy. A responsible person (woman or man) who gets pregnant has many responsible ways to deal with this consequence: a) proceed with birth. b) Abort. Both are responsible options. A responsible person that acknowledges it is not an opportune time to give to birth would abort as opposed as bringing a person to a world of poverty and hardship. In many of these cases, not aborting is an incredibly irresponsible and selfish decision.
4) Pregnancy is not a punishment for sex. Sex is not a crime, so punishing it would make no sense. Pregnancy is a normal biological process, so it would not make sense to call it punishment either.

It is not your body. Putting a dictate on someone else's body, no matter how small is a terrible human rights abuse. And pregnancy is no small by any way. There is a risk of death. Risk of developing psychosis or depression. Risk of losing your job. And at the very least, a lot of puking.


No, consensual sex is not a crime. Nobody is culpable.


Uh? what person. Do you mean fetus?

Nope.



Most biological processes involve the creation of new life. My requirement for oxygen forces my body to keep developing red cells, for example. When I eat, my gut bacteria reproduce and new life happens. Growing up means a ton of new cells.

Sex is usually a requirement for pregnancy . But history of man has for long have sex without pregnancy. Contraception is not a recent invention.


No . For example: this is a thread about rape.


And abortion is part of it.

Currently teen girls cannot just go and claim that god raped them, so I think using that excuse to avoid the stigma of unwanted pregnancy would not be effective anymore.

I am very conservative, politically. I am also, however, pro-choice. My reasoning is simple: the conservative worldview implies that family decisions should be kept within families and not dictated by the government. Abortion is a family decision. If they do not want the child, so be it....even if the "family" happens to be one woman. This is also why I have no problem with allowing sub-communities to adhere to Sharia Law, so it cuts both ways.

But you're right: rape is a very arbitrary issue on which to divide the subject.

Don't you mean females? How can males get pregnant?

There are many men who have a vagina and a working uterus.

Wa...wa...What!! !! !

And the possessor of the vagina and working uterus is the only one who should make the decision regarding a pregnancy, regardless of transgender identity.

That's like saying that when you drive, you should accept the 'consequences' if you get into a car crash and just limp along on a broken leg until it heals by itself, rather than seeking medical treatment (assuming that you don't die).

The 'risk' of driving is car accidents. We have medical treatment for people who get into car accidents.
The 'risk' of sex is pregnancy and STDs. We have medical treatments for people who get pregnant or acquire STDs.

It's none of my business what a woman chooses to do with her body.

It is no business what woman does with her body, that is true. But there is a point to all the defensive behavior us men exhibit regarding the women we love. Say my hypothetical gf gets raped: If this happened I would feel like I would want to hurt her rapist. After words, I get back from court and she says she wants to have the baby. Would I get mad? No. I would neither get mad if she wanted to get an abortion.
Say after this hypothetical s**t goes down, my son, born out of that is say, a wounded vet. I look, I see a rich, happy couple fighting over a broken condom. You can only imagine what anger I would feel towards people like them. I would want them to raise the kid she is carrying. Say I hear they are going to get an abortion. It would be infuriating! To see them abort his seed, and her flesh and blood, when we raised our son, never to be able to have our own. That is why so many people are pro life, and consider pro-choice cowards. Raise the kid, your a hero (technically you are doing what a manly father and mother would do), abort it we're done talking ever again.