Why I'm Pro-Life... No Matter What

I've blogged before about being pro-life. Even my "About Me" declares that I advocate for the tiniest of babies, including the unborn. If you didn't know all this about me already... well, there you have it. I am, as I always say, "unapologetically pro-life".

When you declare yourself as being pro-life, the question that people love to throw at you is this:

"What about cases of rape or incest?"

It's a good question. It's also an easy question- those are the circumstances underwhich so many people feel abortion is completely defensible. It makes it kind of "fun" to challenge those of us with different ideas. I've never once had someone ask me:

"What about cases when a woman gets pregnant and it's inconvenient for her?"

Because, well, where's the fun in that? Suddenly, the defense of life makes total sense.

Anyhow, I'm getting off-topic. The question is this:

"What about cases of rape or incest?"

My answer? I'm still pro-life. And here's why:

• Rape and incest are crimes and need to be treated as such. When a pregnancy occurs, there is a huge problem. But the problem is not the baby. The problem is still the crime. The violence needs to be dealt with (and severely, in my opinion), but not through the killing of the most innocent party of all...
• Abortions being performed to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape or incest are extremely rare (at .3%)... rarer, even, than those performed because of fetal anomalies (.5%). But over 97% of abortions are completely elective-- not a result of rape/incest, not because of fetal defect, not because of risk to the mother. Just because the baby isn't "wanted".
• Finally, I don't believe putting a "rape/incest clause" on the law books would help. If we're to "illegalize" abortion (as I firmly believe we should), it will not work to write in such exceptions. Why not? I hate to say it... but... women will lie. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we'll hear more women "crying rape" in order to be "allowed" to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. And that helps no one. If we don't require that charges be filed, it will make it too easy to claim an unwanted pregnancy was the result of a rape. If we insist that charges be filed in order for the woman to proceed with the abortion, we'll over-burden our already stretched-thin law enforcement departments with a bunch of bogus claims. I just do not believe it will work.
  

Please don't think that I'm trying to down-play the horror and devastation of incest and rape. I do not claim to be able to even imagine the fear and disgust and anxiety that would accompany a resulting pregnancy.

But I'm still pro-life. I will defend those precious unborn children for all of my days. And I will pray- not just today or on Sundays, but every single day- that someday, maybe even during my own lifetime, people will respect and honor the sanctity of life... the miracle of creation... the wonder of being given the gift of an innocent child.