One of the hardest questions for pro-lifers to answer is, “How can you say abortion is wrong if a woman is raped?”
I can see why people get a little confused when they hear this question. I have a wife, nephews, and a sister. I love these women in my life, and it’s hard for me to imagine the possibility of them being raped. When rape happens, we should have the utmost sympathy for the woman, because although abortions in rape cases are less than 1%, it is 100% for him.
But when it comes to the morality of aborting a child resulting from a rape, it’s important to consider what makes the act of rape so terrifying, and then ask ourselves if the act of abortion is similar.
The horror of rape is that a powerful person takes advantage of a weak person and uses their power to commit a heinous act.
At its core, abortion pits a woman (who is powerful) against her unborn child (who is weak). The issue of abortion revolves around empowerment. When a woman says, “My body, my choice,” that’s a power statement. He says that to the child, society, and the child’s father. If she has an abortion, she is using her power to end someone’s life – her vulnerable unborn baby.
On the other side of the coin, when a woman is raped refusing abortion, the reason she often gives is that she refuses to let the rapist make her like her. He used his power against her when she was weak, but she sees the same power at play and refuses to act against her unborn child and create a second rape victim. And that’s why we celebrate women who choose life in the face of such terrible personal trauma.
So, when pro-life people are faced with this question, we should say that we are against abortion for exactly the same reason that we are against rape. We are against the powerful using their power to take advantage of the weak.
We can make additional, compelling points and I discuss them in an episode of CareCast, Care Net’s podcast titled “How Should We Address Abortion in Rape Cases?”
