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Showing posts with label raped and pregnant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raped and pregnant. Show all posts
Saturday, March 10, 2018
We Are The 1% - The Shocking Reality Behind The Numbers, by Jim Sable
1%. It doesn’t sound like very much. If the sales tax goes up 1% in your town, you may notice the slight increase and may shop somewhere else. If your weight goes up 1% after Thanksgiving, it’s most likely only temporary. If you buy a car with 1% better gas mileage, you may not notice anything different. But, what is the impact on human life because of abortion exceptions, which amount to about 1% of cases?
Why is the 20 week abortion ban seen as a tremendous opportunity for a pro-life victory, while eliminating the rape exception is nearly at the bottom of the priority list for ending abortion? Isn’t it shocking that the prospect of annually saving 18,000 babies' lives with the 20 week ban, a laudable goal, is enthusiastically pursued, while the chance to permanently protect the 32,000 or more babies conceived from rape every year, by eliminating all traces of the rape exception, is not supported by many in leadership positions, (both pro-life and clergy), and in political office?
The rape exception is a creation of the abortion rights movement, but is accepted and promoted by some in the pro-life community out of a false sense of compassion, because it is the popular view, or because of pro-life politics. Most of these people do not consider my life at all. To them, the rape exception is only a concept.
I was conceived when my mother was attacked on her way home from work in the late summer of 1957. It is interesting to note that at the same time in 1957, members of a prominent lawyers group, The American Law Institute, (ALI), proposed and recommended that the first exceptions policy guidelines be added to state abortion prohibition laws. The ALI exceptions were: grave physical or mental health impact to the mother, evidence that the child would be born with a grave physical or mental defect, and rape and incest.
Mississippi added a rape exception in 1966. Colorado was the first state to incorporate the ALI exceptions in 1967. Thirteen states were using the ALI exceptions template by the time Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
I discovered my conception story in 2005, and the news was initially devastating. I have thought about my conception every day since, but, the initial pain has been replaced by a powerful pro-life energy and purpose. What is still devastating is the constant push for “exceptions” in law. It is quite a significant betrayal when the exception efforts come from the pro-life side. Their efforts, projecting them back to 1957, would have resulted in not protecting my life. Today, the exceptions target tens of thousands of babies when they are added to pro-life legislation. Our collective efforts at Save The 1 work to end the exceptions era and explain why exceptions are bad pro-life policy.
Unfortunately, those who advocate for exceptions never tell anyone when the rape exception era will end. They never tell us what has to happen in order to permanently eliminate the exceptions. They don’t seem to believe that the exceptions strategy is a broken strategy. They don’t make the connection between the rape exception and the history of the Roe v. Wade decision. They deemphasize the rape exception by saying that it only amounts to 1% of cases. This may be the most common rationale behind the promotion of the rape exception.
What is behind the facade of that 1% deflection? How can you say to a targeted group of people, “Sorry, there just aren’t enough of you to work very hard to protect?” There is a number that beyond which no one in the pro-life community could ignore. They never tell us what that number is, if they’ve even considered what it should be. It is clear that 1% is not enough. And, it is the ultimate cruelty. It is cruel to the rape-conceived. It is saying: “Your numbers are not significant enough to make it worthwhile to fight for your protection.” It is also cruel to women. Cruel and shocking. I don’t think anyone that supports exceptions has even considered it.
Being 1% is not yet enough to achieve legal protection for the rape-conceived. In order for that number to be higher and “significant” enough to be noticed, even MORE women would have to be raped and pregnant. Can you think of anything crueler than that? Is that really what it is going to take to end the “exceptions” era? Must we add countless more traumatized women to the 1% in order to surpass the mystery magic number necessary to purge exceptions from orthodox pro-life strategy? The obvious answer is NO! 1% is way more than enough.
Our founder and President, Rebecca Kiessling, discusses how exceptions impacted the Roe v. Wade decision in this article.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/rebecca-kiessling/the-trouble-with-unprincipled-incrementalism-and-allowing-for-exceptions/10150193880073154/
And this previous Save The 1 article expands on the point about the broken strategy.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/rape-exceptions-in-congress-a-broken-record
Please visit our SaveThe1.com website to learn the best responses to the defenses of the rape exception and answers to the questions you may hear. Please add the arguments presented in this short essay to bolster the information you will find on our website.
BIO
Jim Sable is a husband and father of 4 -- 3 biological sons and one recently-adopted daughter from China. He and his wife Wendy are both adopted. Conceived in rape, Jim is also a Board Member, national pro-life speaker and pro-life blogger for Save The 1.
The rape exception is a creation of the abortion rights movement, but is accepted and promoted by some in the pro-life community out of a false sense of compassion, because it is the popular view, or because of pro-life politics. Most of these people do not consider my life at all. To them, the rape exception is only a concept.
I was conceived when my mother was attacked on her way home from work in the late summer of 1957. It is interesting to note that at the same time in 1957, members of a prominent lawyers group, The American Law Institute, (ALI), proposed and recommended that the first exceptions policy guidelines be added to state abortion prohibition laws. The ALI exceptions were: grave physical or mental health impact to the mother, evidence that the child would be born with a grave physical or mental defect, and rape and incest.
Mississippi added a rape exception in 1966. Colorado was the first state to incorporate the ALI exceptions in 1967. Thirteen states were using the ALI exceptions template by the time Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
I discovered my conception story in 2005, and the news was initially devastating. I have thought about my conception every day since, but, the initial pain has been replaced by a powerful pro-life energy and purpose. What is still devastating is the constant push for “exceptions” in law. It is quite a significant betrayal when the exception efforts come from the pro-life side. Their efforts, projecting them back to 1957, would have resulted in not protecting my life. Today, the exceptions target tens of thousands of babies when they are added to pro-life legislation. Our collective efforts at Save The 1 work to end the exceptions era and explain why exceptions are bad pro-life policy.
Unfortunately, those who advocate for exceptions never tell anyone when the rape exception era will end. They never tell us what has to happen in order to permanently eliminate the exceptions. They don’t seem to believe that the exceptions strategy is a broken strategy. They don’t make the connection between the rape exception and the history of the Roe v. Wade decision. They deemphasize the rape exception by saying that it only amounts to 1% of cases. This may be the most common rationale behind the promotion of the rape exception.
What is behind the facade of that 1% deflection? How can you say to a targeted group of people, “Sorry, there just aren’t enough of you to work very hard to protect?” There is a number that beyond which no one in the pro-life community could ignore. They never tell us what that number is, if they’ve even considered what it should be. It is clear that 1% is not enough. And, it is the ultimate cruelty. It is cruel to the rape-conceived. It is saying: “Your numbers are not significant enough to make it worthwhile to fight for your protection.” It is also cruel to women. Cruel and shocking. I don’t think anyone that supports exceptions has even considered it.
Being 1% is not yet enough to achieve legal protection for the rape-conceived. In order for that number to be higher and “significant” enough to be noticed, even MORE women would have to be raped and pregnant. Can you think of anything crueler than that? Is that really what it is going to take to end the “exceptions” era? Must we add countless more traumatized women to the 1% in order to surpass the mystery magic number necessary to purge exceptions from orthodox pro-life strategy? The obvious answer is NO! 1% is way more than enough.
Our founder and President, Rebecca Kiessling, discusses how exceptions impacted the Roe v. Wade decision in this article.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/rebecca-kiessling/the-trouble-with-unprincipled-incrementalism-and-allowing-for-exceptions/10150193880073154/
And this previous Save The 1 article expands on the point about the broken strategy.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/rape-exceptions-in-congress-a-broken-record
Please visit our SaveThe1.com website to learn the best responses to the defenses of the rape exception and answers to the questions you may hear. Please add the arguments presented in this short essay to bolster the information you will find on our website.
BIO
Monday, October 30, 2017
When I Look at My Son, I Have Never Thought of Him as Being Born From Rape, by Alisha Weiler
I'm
finally ready to tell my story about having become pregnant by rape because the
more of us that tell our stories, the better chance we have of being heard. This is hard for me, but we have to start
somewhere first.
When I
was 18, I was supposed to go on a double blind date with my best friend (who
was pregnant at the time) and her boyfriend.
We were supposed to meet at the bowling alley, but supposedly my blind
date’s truck didn't work and he was at his step-father’s bar, so we met
there. We drank quite a bit -- not my
friend who was pregnant, but her boyfriend, me and my blind date. I had never really drank before, so I was
certainly naïve. My blind date kept
serving up shots of Tequila. I know I
was under the legal age to drink, and should have known better. . . .
I ended up really sick, throwing up on the
bathroom floor, and was carried out by my blind date. I remember being put in my friend’s boyfriend’s
car. I passed out, and then I woke up as
I was being pulled out and carried to my blind date’s apartment. There was only a couch and no lights. I
thought that was odd. My blind date put
me on the floor in a room and I passed out again. I woke up naked and in pain, with him on top
of me. I was groggy, but I knew what he
was trying to do and told him “No!” and managed to roll over, but he continued
his efforts of forcing himself on me, and I began screaming. I couldn’t understand why my friend and her
boyfriend had left me alone and why nobody responded to my screams.
After
he raped me, he left the room, and I remember finding a pair of pants nearby and
putting them on. I just sat there, my
knees to chest, head down in my arms, rocking back and forth crying and
confused. After a few minutes, he came
back in the room and attempted raping me again.
He grabbed my arms and tried to push me back, but I fought hard. He got angry and left, slamming the door
behind him.
I quickly got up and opened the door and yelled for my friend because I was afraid he would come back again. She was in the next room crying. I told her what happened and she told me he attempted to rape her too, and that her boyfriend and my blind date had planned the whole thing. He didn't rape her, but he tried, and they had a massive struggle which ultimately resulted in her losing her baby hours later.
Her boyfriend
wasn't in the room with her at the time I walked in, and I don't know where
they were, but eventually they came back in and her boyfriend decided to take
us home.
He dropped us off at about 3:00 a.m. on a road close by her house and made us walk home from there. Her boyfriend told me that the guy who raped me said to tell me, whatever he did to me, he's sorry.
The
next morning, my friend lost her baby. I was too ashamed to tell my parents or
anybody that I’d been raped.
Eight
weeks later, I found out I was pregnant.
When the nurses and doctors heard that I was pregnant by rape, they
tried to convince me that aborting my baby or adopting my baby out would be the
best thing for my baby. I was in
disbelief! I was just traumatized, and
now they want to do that again? More
violence, more trauma? Why would I kill
an innocent child? Why would God give me
a gift so I can say, “No, I don't want what you just gave to me,” and throw it
right back at God like a piece of trash? My child is human and he deserves to live!
My
parents found out I was raped and pregnant when they overheard me tell a friend
on the phone. Of course, they were upset
that two months had gone by and I had not told them, but they were extremely
supportive of me and my baby. They had raised me to be pro-life, and I knew it
was never okay to kill a baby.
Once my
parents knew about the rape, we proceeded to report it, as well as my
girlfriend reporting her attempted rape and loss of her unborn child. We both got restraining orders against
him. This was all in Florida. My parents moved us to Texas when my son was
four months old, and the wheels of justice were turning slowly.
My
biggest concern was making sure he could not have parental rights to my
child. At the time, Florida law did not
protect me and my son. However, a few
years ago, the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act was passed in Florida to
terminate the parental rights of rapists.
So, in order of us to be protected from the rapist, when my son was
about six months old, a deal was made through his lawyer that he would agree to
the termination of his parental rights in exchange for me dropping the charges
against him.
I felt
guilty for not going through with the charges because he could just do the same
thing to someone else, but my ultimate goal at this point was to protect myself
and my son. It was very difficult
dealing with the whole situation and even just the thought of returning to
Florida and seeing him again in court.
When I
look at my son, I have never thought of him as being born from rape. Life has
He
knows that people think that if a child is born from a rape, then that child should
be aborted. He told me that he’s glad I
didn’t abort him and that he’s happy to be alive. My son still has not told
anyone his story himself. I’m sure he
doesn’t want to be ridiculed for it.
I’ve
told him that it can be a cold, hard world, but I am sharing my story now
because people need to be aware that these babies don’t deserve to die for
someone else’s crime. I’d like to get
the message across that there are more women like me who love our children who
were conceived in rape, and like my son, who deserve to live – and without
shame to them.
Why would people think it's okay to take that right to life away? It's time to speak out and up for these babies who should never be denied life!
For many years, I felt like I must be the only one who was raped and is raising her child. I can't even describe how it felt to be so alone in this. But now, through Save The 1, I have met dozens of other mothers. I want other women to know that there are others of us and we understand.
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