Rape exception "necessary"?

"One study found that 50% of women who became pregnant by rape underwent abortions, 5.9% placed their infants for adoptions, and 32.3% of raped women kept their infants. Another study, conducted in a separate year, found markedly different results, concluding that 26% of women pregnant through rape underwent abortions. Of the 73% of women who carried their pregnancies to term, 36% placed their infants for adoption, and 64% raised the children they conceived through rape."

[…]

"These societal constructions have created a “prototype” of the pregnant raped woman and of the prototypical rape pregnancy experience by which all raped women are judged. […] Proponents of abortion rights used the image of the raped woman to challenge the public opinion that all women who sought abortions were making a choice “against motherhood.” They did this by depicting raped women as having no choice or personal agency in seeking their abortions. Instead, raped women were depicted as “unfortunates who, through no fault of their own, were forced into an abortion” […] by describing the unborn child in terms that suggest the child is a mere extension of the rapist (that is, by labeling the unborn child as the “rapist’s baby”) with the unborn child continuing the rapist’s violence against the woman, this time from within the raped woman’s own womb. By vilifying the rape-conceived child, these proponents depict abortion as a raped woman’s self-defense tool[.]

[…]

Perhaps surprisingly, the only study to ever analyze the effects of pregnancy upon raped women found that raped women are, above all, victims of rape, not pregnancy. […] “it appears that the pregnant victim’s problems stem more from the trauma of rape rather than from the pregnancy itself.” Only 19.2% of raped women stated that they needed to confront feelings of “resentment of the pregnancy” or “hostility towards [the] child.”

Read the entire paper here: Giving Birth to a “Rapist’s Child”: A Discussion and Analysis of the Limited Legal Protections Afforded to Women Who Become Mothers Through Rape (Georgetown Law Journal)

Unwanted. Unsafe. Unfair.

"Coerced abortion is explicitly recognized as a violation of basic rights and principles." – United Nations Population Fund^.

"Some claim that abortion is only 'forced' if physical force— e.g., kidnapping—is involved, and that all other abortions have been 'chosen' ... even where women have been harassed or brutalized to force them to comply. The 'forced' versus 'coerced' argument dismisses the fact that coerced abortions are human rights abuses. It legitimizes abuse of women by implying that any woman who had an abortion because she was unable to withstand being psychologically or physically abused, got what she deserved. ... "Both 'forced' and 'coerced' abortions should be opposed as fundamental human rights abuses."

Learn more at Abortion Is The Unchoice

On Eagle's Wings

I often tell people that it's not always the righteous who find their way to the abortion clinics. It's often unlikely heroes. In fact, I'm fond of saying a lot of the people, myself included, manage to get there despite being spiritually broken. A few of us limp to the battlefield ... and God somehow manages to use us and illustrate His greatness. Today was no different, but with a slight caveat.

When I arrived there were three men praying. I only recognized one of them. All three had driven an hour to stand outside of the Charlottesville abortion clinic.

At the end of their stay one of them mentioned that he was looking forward to addressing a medical issue. It turns out that he has a very rare muscle affliction that causes him considerable pain. And yet there he was standing outside the abortion clinic in prayer despite the pain. It reminded me of a man I had met in Houston that was dying of cancer outside of the abortion clinic, only we didn't know it at the time.

He never told us that he was fighting for his life.

All of us must overcome something to serve God. And for many Americans the struggle is to overcome fear in the battle of good versus evil. Many of us are in perfect health and yet we find reasons why we can't stand up for the unborn. But these men convict us in those moments when we don't feel like holding a sign or praying in the cold rain. These faithful servants of God show up and minister that it's not our strength that will win this war, but God's strength.

If God can give them the strength to overcome physical pain then surely God can give us all the strength we need in our moment of weakness.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the Earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:28-31

-- Steve

Be at peace

"Be at peace.

Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;
rather look to them with full hope as they arise.

God, whose very own you are, will deliver you from out of them.

He has kept you hitherto, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand it, God will bury you in his arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow, the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and everyday.

He will either shield you from suffering or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imagination."

-- St Francis de Sales

HT to Lauren

Day 13: Midpoint Rally & the Importance of Prayer

Hi Prayer Warriors!

It's hard to believe that we're already more than a quarter of a way through the 40 days -- in fact day 20 is only a week away! And with this passing of time, the midpoint rally is now at hand!

Midpoint Rally
When: Sunday, Oct 10 from 1pm to ~2:30pm
Where: Albemarle High School with some opening prayers, then doing a prayer march down to Planned Parenthood (1/2 a mile walk)

While talking with a fellow Christian I realized I'd done a poor job of explaining what 40 Days for Life was about. It's not about the vigil at Planned Parenthood, it's not about community outreach, and it's not even about visiting the website and signing up for the daily devotionals. 40 Days for Life is simply about praying and fasting for an end to abortion. One of our most powerful prayer warriors will never make it out to Planned Parenthood or perhaps even witness to the community, for she can barely walk. She'll never receive a single email from me or the national team, for she has no email...nor even a computer.

Yet she is praying, every day, for an end to abortion, for this campaign and for each of us. When she signed her name with an arthritic, shaking hand, I knew it was her prayers, and the prayers of the many more unknown souls like her, that were upholding us. Everything else is an outward, visible sign of this necessary, invisible reality of prayer. Without that prayer nothing will be accomplished!

If your church or community is doing something prayer centered to end abortion, please pass it along so others may join in. Here are two events coming up within the next week:

Holy Hour for the Respect of all human life
When: Sunday, October 10th at 3pm (we'll try to end the rally on time so people can make it to this)
Where: St Thomas Aquinas
What: An hour of private prayer in front of the exposed host.
Who: Anyone may attend - if you have questions please feel free to contact me

Mass offered for 40 Days for Life
When: Tuesday, October 12 at 12:25pm
Where: UVA Chapel on grounds (note: parking can be difficult)
Who: Anyone may attend, but only Catholics who have prepared themselves may receive communion.

Thank you for all your prayers and may the Lord bless you abundantly as you continue to put your trust in Him!

Day Nine: The Monsoon

"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" - Matt. 19:26

Several inches of rain did not stop God's army from braving the elements outside of Planned Parenthood on Hydraulic Road - among them 84 year old Mary Jo. Despite being a little bit under the weather she brought her umbrella and grabbed a "Pray to end abortion sign" and alongside other volunteers she walked up and down the block in the pouring rain. She walked, and walked, and walked ... and when asked how she was able to do it she attributed it to "good genes".

One onlooker stated, "I hope to have have half her faith when I'm 84."

Later, Mr. and Mrs. Kenney would inherit the signs and pick up where Mary Jo left off -- being joined by fellow parishioner Steven. Hundreds upon hundreds of cars drove by and stared in amazement as men and women illustrated how much God loves the unborn. In the midst of the storm the light of God's love shone through.

We wish to think everyone who has stood for God's truth even when it was uncomfortable and inconvenient.

- Steve

Lost Hope

The reason that people want to kill the unborn is that they have lost hope.

I received a class recently on suicide awareness here at The Basic School. The instructor began by taking a survey of how many people knew someone who had attempted to or who had committed suicide. Almost every hand went up.

St. John Vianney tells us that “The eyes of the world see no further than this life, but the eyes of the Christian see deep into eternity.” The world, therefore, cannot hope for anything more than the pleasures of this life. We Christians, however, see the hope of the next life. We hope not that we will be loved, for we already are, but that, because of Jesus, we will perfectly love God and one another.

When you listen to the reasons espoused by the proponents of abortion, they are always something along the lines of “The child won’t be loved” or “the child won’t have a good life with its disability”. Yet none of these things will preclude the child from our hope, either in this world or the next.

- Martin