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TechnographPro-choice is pro-woman
By Stephanie Birch, junior in FAA
Posted: 10/7/08 Section: Letters
In regards to Annie's article, I pity her. I used to be like her because I used to believe that there is no cause or justification for abortion. I was once naive like her. That all changed when I was 16, and I was raped. Until that point in my life, I was against abortion, even in instances of rape or incest. Since then, I gave life to my son at age 18, and my son was a choice. As a scared freshman in my college dorm room my first semester of college, I considered abortion. I chose against it. However, I can honestly say that if I would have become pregnant with my son when I was raped, my son would not be here. Chances are, I would not be here. It is easy for a person who has not experienced rape to "choose life" in that instance.
People who are not victims believe that rape is a single, isolated event. Victims like me, the ones who suffer in ways that I do, relive and experience their attacks years later. Four years later, I am still haunted. I could not have endured a pregnancy...a forced pregnancy. For me, sex was not a choice. Rape is not about sex, it is about power. Abortion for victims is not about death, it is about reclaiming a life that was stolen. I cannot speak for all victims, but I am certain of what I would choose. Rape abortions may only make up for 7%, but whether abortion is legal, that 7% would still be finding ways (unsafe ways) to abort. It no longer becomes about pro-life or pro-choice when you take into consideration that women will abort...and without a doctor, will most likely die. Rape is only justifiable if the mother's life is in danger? Well, rape put my life in danger. Pro-choice is pro-woman.
Stephanie Birch
Junior in FAA
People who are not victims believe that rape is a single, isolated event. Victims like me, the ones who suffer in ways that I do, relive and experience their attacks years later. Four years later, I am still haunted. I could not have endured a pregnancy...a forced pregnancy. For me, sex was not a choice. Rape is not about sex, it is about power. Abortion for victims is not about death, it is about reclaiming a life that was stolen. I cannot speak for all victims, but I am certain of what I would choose. Rape abortions may only make up for 7%, but whether abortion is legal, that 7% would still be finding ways (unsafe ways) to abort. It no longer becomes about pro-life or pro-choice when you take into consideration that women will abort...and without a doctor, will most likely die. Rape is only justifiable if the mother's life is in danger? Well, rape put my life in danger. Pro-choice is pro-woman.
Stephanie Birch
Junior in FAA
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Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
Nihal
posted 10/07/08 @ 2:23 AM CST
Stephanie,
You are one of the strongest and most courageous people I have ever known.
Numbers don't add up
posted 10/07/08 @ 7:46 AM CST
Courageous maybe, but she needs to check her math if she thinks 7% (91,000) of the 1.3 million abortions performed annually are due to rape. Since a single act of intercourse without contraception results in pregnancy 8% of the time. (Continued…)
Maybe the numbers don't add up, but still
posted 10/07/08 @ 10:15 AM CST
1. Emergency contraception may not be available in the case of rape+kidnap
2. Emergency contraception is not 100% efficient
3. Is it fair for even 1 rape victim who does get pregnant in spite of emergency contraception to face a huge emotional and physiological burden for 9 months and possibly even more - think about it - being reminded of the violence every second of every day . (Continued…)
No....
posted 10/07/08 @ 12:40 PM CST
"4. Adoption - so that the kid can get into a home where there are high chances of mental, physical and sexual abuse?
5. IF there is supposedly a 'soul', the aborted fetus's soul would go to 'heaven', wouldn't it? So why not let it go to 'heaven'? Or is it the case that a soul that has faced the evils of the world and overcome them enjoys a higher plane of 'eternity' in 'heaven'?"
Kill an unborn child to prevent it from possibly suffering later in its life? Thats about as logical as suicide. (Continued…)
Stephanie Birch
posted 10/07/08 @ 2:32 PM CST
The figure 7% was the number used in Annie's article. I do not believe that it is 7% is a correct figure. Personally, I believe that the number of women with abortions as a result of rape is much higher. (Continued…)
Wow
posted 10/07/08 @ 3:09 PM CST
Though I have never experienced a sexual assault and understand it to be enormously traumatic, there is something not quite right about wanting to reclaim a life that was never lost by ending another. (Continued…)
Topic Fails
posted 10/07/08 @ 6:49 PM CST
"Pro-choice is pro-woman" fails when the baby is a female, which is 50% of the time.
tiffany
posted 10/07/08 @ 10:42 PM CST
"pro-life" fails when women and their unborn children die from unsafe abortions because it is illegal.
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