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Friday, August 3, 2018
10 Argentine Women Conceived in Rape and Mothers From Rape Speak Up! by Rebecca Kiessling
My name is Rebecca Kiessling, I am a wife, a mother of five children -- two of them adopted, and I am the president of SaveThe1 (Salvar El 1 in Spanish) an international pro-life organization which specializes in defending all of the so-called "hard cases" through sharing our personal stories.
A good number of members are from Argentina, and they are outraged to see the proposed law to
expand abortion to be legal in all cases up to 14 weeks, and in cases of rape from 14 weeks to up until birth. It was bad enough when the law first began targeting the innocent child conceived in rape.
For those like us who have been conceived in a rape, it is hard to know that currently the "exceptions" are allowed through 14 weeks when a pregnant woman merely says she was raped. And for those told that their child would be disabled, it's horrifying to know that if a doctor diagnoses that the baby has malformations "incompatible with life" or if it affirms that the mother is in danger of dying, then the child can be killed up to 14 weeks. These three allegations may or may not be true, but all three are discriminating against the most vulnerable people in society who are the ones who would require more effective protection.
On August 8th, the Argentine Senate will vote on whether abortion will be legal in any case and up to birth for the so-called "exceptions." If approved, Argentina would be the fifth Latin American country to decriminalize abortion without these restrictions, after Cuba, Uruguay, Guyana, Chile and some parts of Mexico -- and the killing of unborn children will be rampant.
Save The 1 is an organization of over 600 people who were conceived in a rape like me, mothers who conceived a child after being raped and who are raising their children, mothers who after giving birth placed the child for adoption and others, who regret aborting. In addition, we have hundreds of mothers who were advised to abort because of a poor pre-natal diagnosis. We value life and we hope that the Argentine Senate will protect life without discrimination.
Our Facebook page in Spanish, Salvar El 1, now has almost 68,000 followers. Since the groundbreaking news that Argentina seeks to legalize abortion, we have received a flood of stories from Argentina from those who want to share their testimonies with us. They have been encouraged to come forward by reading my story and those of many others in our organization. Many voices are rising in Argentina, but, most importantly, the voices of the most innocent are going to be heard and the voice will be raised in defense of those Argentine unborn children who still can not raise it and who are at risk.
Like me, Karina Estrella Etchepare (whom I nicknamed "Argentine Rebecca") was conceived in rape, placed for adoption, is a family law attorney, and is now a strong voice speaking out in Argentina. Her mother was raped by her own stepfather at age 14. Karina testified recently in Congress when the new bill was up for a hearing. She asked Congress: "Does anyone dare to tell me that their life is worth more than mine because I am the result of a violation?" She explained to them that "the mother and child are both victims of the rapist. For that reason, it is necessary to protect them both. No one has the right to say that one life is worth less than the other, much less that of the fruit of a rape, because that baby does not know how she was conceived. If the rapist, with luck, is sentenced to 15 years in prison, why is the innocent baby sentenced to death?"
Margarita Juncos, from Argentina, was also conceived in rape. Her mother was 17 years old when she was raped and gave birth to her daughter alone at a women's help center. Sadly, she passed away after two months as the result of a heart problem, and Margarita was raised by her maternal grandfather. As an adult, wife and mother, she learned the truth of her conception and birth. She values the gift of life that her mother gave her in the worst circumstances and has even forgiven her biological father.
Adriana Shinki, from Argentina, was conceived in a rape when her mother was only 11 years old. Unable to take care of her, her mother left Adriana in an orphanage where she knew they were going to raise her and care for her. After many years, she had the good fortune to meet her mother and recounted in the blog of Save the 1: "How can I be angry with the woman who gave me life?".
From the feelings of someone who was conceived in violence, but raised in love, Adriana advises all those who question the exceptions: "If there is a woman who has been raped and who is expecting a child who is the fruit of that act and who is reading my story, I would say that having that child will be the realization that something good can come from something bad, and a child is the most beautiful thing in the world and she will never regret not killing her child. That child is hers, no matter how he or she arrives, and is the one who will love her for the simple reason that she is his or her mother. To people who are the result of a violation I would say, obviously, they are not to blame for how they were conceived and their life is worth no more or less than others. They are the same because we are all human and have the right to live our lives."
María de la Paz Rodríguez, also from Argentina, was conceived in a rape and placed for adoption.
Today she is happily married and is the mother of two girls. She herself explains to the world, proudly: "My daughters are pro-life -- the granddaughters of a raped grandmother, who chose not to abort and placed their mother (me) for adoption. Otherwise, my daughters would not exist!"
"Happily adopted! I am a privileged person of life -- because I had two mothers: one who gave me life and another who gave me her life. Who dares to tell me that I should not be born as an unwanted baby conceived during a rape? I am not an abomination of nature because I am not begotten with love. It is better to ADOPT than to ABORT, because every life is worthy!"
Anahí Retsar, also from Argentina, became pregnant after a rape at the young age of 14 years. She contacted Save The 1 to tell us her story. In her words: "It never crossed my mind to kill that child because being raped and being a murderer and blaming someone who does not deserve it, are different things. The child is not to blame for his father's wrongdoing and does not have to pay for his crime." Today Anahí is married, she is the mother of several children -- some whom she adopted and her eldest son, Catrial, has already made her grandmother!
Sofia, also from Argentina, was raped five years ago. Six months after her rape and in a situation of depression and despair for what was done to her, she learned in a routine medical examination that she was expecting a child as a result of her rape. Against everything that others would expect, "That baby became my motive for life, to love my own life, and became the love of my life! My son is now 4 years old and his name is Ian, which means "sent from heaven." He is the miracle that God gave me after a misfortune and my strength to move forward. I'm still in treatment to overcome what happened, but with him, my life went from being a nightmare to being a dream."
As in the case of Sofia, many mothers from rape report how that unexpected and unplanned child -- conceived through an act of barbarism, was her motive for moving forward and the only good thing that came out of that horrendous act. The baby conceived is the triumph of good against evil.
Claudelina Sanabria, a resident of Argentina, was raped at age 11 and became pregnant. Without knowing what had happened, she found herself in front of the juvenile guardian judge who encouraged her to have an abortion. But when he explained what an abortion was, she knew that it meant killing the child she had in her womb. With the choppy words of a scared girl but the wisdom of a mature woman, she rejected abortion and gave birth to her baby. "If I had to advise a girl who expects a child after a rape, I would tell her to be strong and to choose life. You will not regret it. I rejected abortion, survived my rape, and there is nothing like giving birth and being a mother! I wish I could make all those people understand that nobody has the right to take the life of an innocent person."
Viviana Victoria, also from Argentina, suffered sexual abuse since she was 12 years old by a family friend much older than her and was pregnant at the age of 14. But far from being defended by her family or the authorities, she was forced to marry her rapist. The forced marriage and the situation of mistreatment that she suffered almost destroyed her physical and mental health, but, again, her son conceived by violence was her savior. She related her story to Save The 1: "The child I gave birth to came to take away those desires to commit suicide that I had, along with all my unhappiness. He saved my life and gave me hope despite the way he came into this world."
Akli Ahlet from Argentina became pregnant after being raped in a car and had to overcome not only the aftermath of a rape and her memory, but the contempt of society towards her son conceived in violence who was stigmatized even by the doctors themselves who pressured her to abort. She also wrote her story for Save the 1's blog: "The doctor told me that my son was disgusting -- and all for a crime he did not commit. The doctor said he was not going to survive since he already had low blood sugars. I started to cry and to say that I did not understand why he was against my son if he had not done anything wrong."
Alba -- a birthmother from rape is also from Argentina and recently shared her story with us. She
was raped from the age of 7, kept from attending school, left perpetually hungry, and eventually became pregnant at 10 years old. When her father took her for an abortion, she realized that they were going to kill her child, and she managed to escape -- fleeing to her grandmother's home. Her grandmother was beaten for sheltering her and threatened not to go to the authorities to report the rape. But once Alba gave birth to her precious daughter at the age 11, the hospital reported the rapes. She and her daughter were placed with a loving family, where Alba was able to make a permanent adoption plan. She writes: "I thank God because I had a second chance to have a family, mom, dad and siblings who helped me grow up and realize that life is beautiful." Alba received an education, a degree and owns her own business.
"I know that my daughter is growing up in a good family surrounded by love and values. Thanks to the fact that I did not allow an abortion and I said yes to life, my daughter was born and her birth revealed the abuses and the situation of mistreatment that I suffered. Thanks to the fact that the Hospital made the accusation and the Juvenile Justice intervened, I was able to get out of the hell in which I lived and today I am happy."
This is what Alba has to say to the Argentine Congress: "Dear legislators, I leave you with this reflection: Why don't you transform those unwanted children, fruit of barbarism, products of rape into desired and beloved children through the bond of adoption? An evil is not remedied with another evil. I, at ten years old and illiterate, defended my daughter's life. Today I ask you who have the duty to legislate to defend life from the moment of conception. Legislate from love and not from the culture of death."
Please understand that legalizing abortion for rape cases and other exceptions only teaches that the falsity there are lives that are worth more than others. Can you imagine creating "exceptions" for Asian or African or Jewish babies? The message is that they are not worthy of life, and that you do not have to protect their lives. There would be an international outcry if, someday, this were proposed. Yes, it is the same in our case. And we feel that there is great apathy when it comes to valuing our life. Mothers who have children conceived in a rape claim that they are themselves targeted and despised and they are questioned for not having an abortion and because they love that child.
We appreciate the empathy with the victims of a rape, but they are four times more likely to die within the next year after an abortion. In the book of Dr. David Reardon, Victims and Victors, he cites the studies conducted on this. After an abortion, rape victims have a higher rate of suicide and drug addiction. Rapists, pedophiles and sex traffickers love abortion because it destroys the evidence of the crime and empowers them to continue. Often, a girl's own mother has also allowed her to be violated or left her unprotected. It is the baby in these situations who offers evidence of the rape. If we really want to protect the victim from abuse, we must defend her from her rapist and abortion, and not from her child.
Argentina, you are a great nation, much better than others, because you have established a culture
where people are loved and valued. The Argentinian women who have given their testimony above have been able to share their stories of love for life because they all love their lives and love their children no matter how they were conceived. Please, do not accept the culture of death and discrimination again. We urge you to tell your senators NOT to vote in favor of the decriminalization of abortion. Vote NO on the legalization of the death of an innocent. Do not let the blood of innocent Argentine babies be shed on your soil.
BIO: Rebecca Kiessling is a wife, mother of 5, conceived in rape, attorney, international pro-life speaker and writer, and president of Save The 1 / Salvar El 1.
A good number of members are from Argentina, and they are outraged to see the proposed law to
For those like us who have been conceived in a rape, it is hard to know that currently the "exceptions" are allowed through 14 weeks when a pregnant woman merely says she was raped. And for those told that their child would be disabled, it's horrifying to know that if a doctor diagnoses that the baby has malformations "incompatible with life" or if it affirms that the mother is in danger of dying, then the child can be killed up to 14 weeks. These three allegations may or may not be true, but all three are discriminating against the most vulnerable people in society who are the ones who would require more effective protection.
On August 8th, the Argentine Senate will vote on whether abortion will be legal in any case and up to birth for the so-called "exceptions." If approved, Argentina would be the fifth Latin American country to decriminalize abortion without these restrictions, after Cuba, Uruguay, Guyana, Chile and some parts of Mexico -- and the killing of unborn children will be rampant.
Save The 1 is an organization of over 600 people who were conceived in a rape like me, mothers who conceived a child after being raped and who are raising their children, mothers who after giving birth placed the child for adoption and others, who regret aborting. In addition, we have hundreds of mothers who were advised to abort because of a poor pre-natal diagnosis. We value life and we hope that the Argentine Senate will protect life without discrimination.
Our Facebook page in Spanish, Salvar El 1, now has almost 68,000 followers. Since the groundbreaking news that Argentina seeks to legalize abortion, we have received a flood of stories from Argentina from those who want to share their testimonies with us. They have been encouraged to come forward by reading my story and those of many others in our organization. Many voices are rising in Argentina, but, most importantly, the voices of the most innocent are going to be heard and the voice will be raised in defense of those Argentine unborn children who still can not raise it and who are at risk.
Margarita Juncos, from Argentina, was also conceived in rape. Her mother was 17 years old when she was raped and gave birth to her daughter alone at a women's help center. Sadly, she passed away after two months as the result of a heart problem, and Margarita was raised by her maternal grandfather. As an adult, wife and mother, she learned the truth of her conception and birth. She values the gift of life that her mother gave her in the worst circumstances and has even forgiven her biological father.
Adriana Shinki, from Argentina, was conceived in a rape when her mother was only 11 years old. Unable to take care of her, her mother left Adriana in an orphanage where she knew they were going to raise her and care for her. After many years, she had the good fortune to meet her mother and recounted in the blog of Save the 1: "How can I be angry with the woman who gave me life?".
From the feelings of someone who was conceived in violence, but raised in love, Adriana advises all those who question the exceptions: "If there is a woman who has been raped and who is expecting a child who is the fruit of that act and who is reading my story, I would say that having that child will be the realization that something good can come from something bad, and a child is the most beautiful thing in the world and she will never regret not killing her child. That child is hers, no matter how he or she arrives, and is the one who will love her for the simple reason that she is his or her mother. To people who are the result of a violation I would say, obviously, they are not to blame for how they were conceived and their life is worth no more or less than others. They are the same because we are all human and have the right to live our lives."
María de la Paz Rodríguez, also from Argentina, was conceived in a rape and placed for adoption.
"Happily adopted! I am a privileged person of life -- because I had two mothers: one who gave me life and another who gave me her life. Who dares to tell me that I should not be born as an unwanted baby conceived during a rape? I am not an abomination of nature because I am not begotten with love. It is better to ADOPT than to ABORT, because every life is worthy!"
Anahí Retsar, also from Argentina, became pregnant after a rape at the young age of 14 years. She contacted Save The 1 to tell us her story. In her words: "It never crossed my mind to kill that child because being raped and being a murderer and blaming someone who does not deserve it, are different things. The child is not to blame for his father's wrongdoing and does not have to pay for his crime." Today Anahí is married, she is the mother of several children -- some whom she adopted and her eldest son, Catrial, has already made her grandmother!
Sofia, also from Argentina, was raped five years ago. Six months after her rape and in a situation of depression and despair for what was done to her, she learned in a routine medical examination that she was expecting a child as a result of her rape. Against everything that others would expect, "That baby became my motive for life, to love my own life, and became the love of my life! My son is now 4 years old and his name is Ian, which means "sent from heaven." He is the miracle that God gave me after a misfortune and my strength to move forward. I'm still in treatment to overcome what happened, but with him, my life went from being a nightmare to being a dream."
As in the case of Sofia, many mothers from rape report how that unexpected and unplanned child -- conceived through an act of barbarism, was her motive for moving forward and the only good thing that came out of that horrendous act. The baby conceived is the triumph of good against evil.
Claudelina Sanabria, a resident of Argentina, was raped at age 11 and became pregnant. Without knowing what had happened, she found herself in front of the juvenile guardian judge who encouraged her to have an abortion. But when he explained what an abortion was, she knew that it meant killing the child she had in her womb. With the choppy words of a scared girl but the wisdom of a mature woman, she rejected abortion and gave birth to her baby. "If I had to advise a girl who expects a child after a rape, I would tell her to be strong and to choose life. You will not regret it. I rejected abortion, survived my rape, and there is nothing like giving birth and being a mother! I wish I could make all those people understand that nobody has the right to take the life of an innocent person."
Viviana Victoria, also from Argentina, suffered sexual abuse since she was 12 years old by a family friend much older than her and was pregnant at the age of 14. But far from being defended by her family or the authorities, she was forced to marry her rapist. The forced marriage and the situation of mistreatment that she suffered almost destroyed her physical and mental health, but, again, her son conceived by violence was her savior. She related her story to Save The 1: "The child I gave birth to came to take away those desires to commit suicide that I had, along with all my unhappiness. He saved my life and gave me hope despite the way he came into this world."
Akli Ahlet from Argentina became pregnant after being raped in a car and had to overcome not only the aftermath of a rape and her memory, but the contempt of society towards her son conceived in violence who was stigmatized even by the doctors themselves who pressured her to abort. She also wrote her story for Save the 1's blog: "The doctor told me that my son was disgusting -- and all for a crime he did not commit. The doctor said he was not going to survive since he already had low blood sugars. I started to cry and to say that I did not understand why he was against my son if he had not done anything wrong."
Alba -- a birthmother from rape is also from Argentina and recently shared her story with us. She
"I know that my daughter is growing up in a good family surrounded by love and values. Thanks to the fact that I did not allow an abortion and I said yes to life, my daughter was born and her birth revealed the abuses and the situation of mistreatment that I suffered. Thanks to the fact that the Hospital made the accusation and the Juvenile Justice intervened, I was able to get out of the hell in which I lived and today I am happy."
This is what Alba has to say to the Argentine Congress: "Dear legislators, I leave you with this reflection: Why don't you transform those unwanted children, fruit of barbarism, products of rape into desired and beloved children through the bond of adoption? An evil is not remedied with another evil. I, at ten years old and illiterate, defended my daughter's life. Today I ask you who have the duty to legislate to defend life from the moment of conception. Legislate from love and not from the culture of death."
Please understand that legalizing abortion for rape cases and other exceptions only teaches that the falsity there are lives that are worth more than others. Can you imagine creating "exceptions" for Asian or African or Jewish babies? The message is that they are not worthy of life, and that you do not have to protect their lives. There would be an international outcry if, someday, this were proposed. Yes, it is the same in our case. And we feel that there is great apathy when it comes to valuing our life. Mothers who have children conceived in a rape claim that they are themselves targeted and despised and they are questioned for not having an abortion and because they love that child.
We appreciate the empathy with the victims of a rape, but they are four times more likely to die within the next year after an abortion. In the book of Dr. David Reardon, Victims and Victors, he cites the studies conducted on this. After an abortion, rape victims have a higher rate of suicide and drug addiction. Rapists, pedophiles and sex traffickers love abortion because it destroys the evidence of the crime and empowers them to continue. Often, a girl's own mother has also allowed her to be violated or left her unprotected. It is the baby in these situations who offers evidence of the rape. If we really want to protect the victim from abuse, we must defend her from her rapist and abortion, and not from her child.
Argentina, you are a great nation, much better than others, because you have established a culture
BIO: Rebecca Kiessling is a wife, mother of 5, conceived in rape, attorney, international pro-life speaker and writer, and president of Save The 1 / Salvar El 1.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Does anyone care about God's opinion?
We all have defining moments in our lives. Usually they are moments marked by the birth of a child or sadly by the death of a loved one….maybe a new job, a move to a new state and so much more.
One of my most defining moments can be said in two words “Kunta Kinte.” For some of you that will immediately bring to mind an image of a young LeVar Burton in the tv mini series Roots and for others you may not be familiar with that TV show, but for me it was and will forever be heavily marked on my heart and in my mind.
I loved learning about history in 4th and 5th grade. I think because history is truly people’s stories in life’s journey and how our stories impact people, nations and the world, that history has always captivated my attention as at a young age, even though not a Christian, the value of each soul was impressed upon my heart by God in a way that people’s stories and people’s pain impacted me in a very profound way.
I had learned about slavery, of course, as any grade school student does as I studied our American history and while it impacted me, the reality of it did not hit me until I found myself watching a new TV series that would hit the air waves in 1977 while I was still in grade school. That was Roots. Kunta Kinte’s life and the lives of both the slaves and the slave owners would forever impact my life. To this day the images that I tried to erase are still clearly marked on my heart and mind.
Even as a young girl, I sat there in disbelief that any human being could justify in any way treating ANY other human being as if they were/are not human. It made no sense to me. TRULY MADE NO SENSE TO ME. I mean of course logically I had learned the sick rationale that was used to enslave people but I could not wrap my mind around how any human being could go along with something so clearly evil beyond words. I would wrestle and wrestle how anyone could ever not only do this but allow this and allow this on a level of actual legislation supporting this in our nation and in our history.
Fast forward to my college years….Jesus reached down and saved my undeserving soul. While I saw Him merely as fire insurance in that moment so to speak initially and did not really start following Him and engaging in a vibrant relationship with my Savior until my mid twenties, instantly I knew that being pro choice, which I had been in college, was wrong and I immediately said I would never vote for a Democrat again and would always support Republicans with my vote as I knew that Republicans by in large voted pro life. Outside of voting though I did very little to show any evidence that I was pro life. I was in word but not in deed which truly leaves one to question if I was really pro life at all as my lip service apart from any real actions hardly qualified me to call myself pro life.
It was not until my husband and I found ourselves facing three top doctors at a top hospital in IL that my eyes were truly opened to the reality of abortion in America and how much it was and is a part of the very fabric of our nation. I remember clear as day as if just yesterday that utter feeling of horror and shock that people in medicine not only suggest, that is bad enough, but insist on parents killing their child and not only killing their child but the reasoning being because the child is sick. Since when did/does being sick become a crime and become something worthy of being killed over???? Of course, in utter shock that this would even be suggested we kindly argued with and took a STRONG, BOLD yet kind stand against this and today we have a beautiful, KIND beyond measure 20 year old daughter that lights up every room she enters and impacts lives with her kindness.
But it would not stop there the education on abortion God was revealing to me. I was about to get an even bigger and most unexpected education yet again within a community I had always viewed as truly safe and truly pro life as I had once viewed the medical community.
I started to learn that EVEN IN the pro life community there were factions of people that did not really believe in PRO LIFE at all as they would advocate for or succumb to fighting for some lives but not ALL lives. This, just like with the utter shock of those in the medical community seeing abortion as a very real “solution” and “option,” was just as shocking to me that there were people within pro life life that held the same stance. I was in utter shock! And what is this stance within the pro life community where some who profess to fight for life would relegate some lives to less valuable than others…..THE EXCEPTIONS……
Just like with Roots, as a young girl, as I sat in front of the TV screen in utter shock and disbelief with tears running down my face uncontrollably, I would sit before God with tears running down my face asking how could this be. I fully understand the deception of someone who does not follow Jesus buying into the lie of abortion as a solution, as that was once me before I encountered Jesus. BUT …..to find out that professing believers, professing followers of Jesus Christ, professing pro life people would say that abortion is ok in any circumstance or being willing to go along with it for some so that others could live was nothing short of knock me on my bottom shocking to me.
It would forever take me back to slavery in our history. Professing believers not only supported slavery and had slaves but would go along with legislation to support that and legislation that dehumanized an entire people group. Professing believers would justify slavery because of the economic benefit to so many which well outweighed the cost to the human lives of the slaves….sound familiar…….benefiting the many even though at great cost to the few????? Abortion…..EXCEPTIONS…….
As a believer, there will NEVER EVER, let me repeat this in kindness and love but so boldly, that there will never be a time that SIN IS THE SOLUTION TO ANYTHING THAT AILS MAN. The sin of slavery may have seemed like a solution to the South’s economic woes and a way for great prosperity for many but in God’s economy is SIN EVER THE SOLUTION??? Praise God enough people were willing to be hated, put their lives on the line and accept no compromises and fight for the complete end to slavery. It was a defining moment in our history……Today is no different.
Sin is still never the solution even though from a human standpoint it can be rationalized and not even called sin…..but as with slavery….as with the compromise of some states being free and others slave states-that would never be God’s way to say, “Well at least some states are free even if some still allow slavery.” NO! God never condones sin…because SIN HURTS ALL INVOLVED…….God does not compromise and neither should we……..Pro life legislation with exceptions is sin before a holy God….it is no different then when our nation made compromises allowing for some free states….That may have seemed generous and like a win win but when an entire people group was still dehumanized and enslaved in the slave states that compromise was of man and never of God.
May the pro life community and may pro life legislators who know Jesus as Lord and Savior filter exceptions in pro life legislation through the lens of Jesus the same way that the abolitionists who would tolerate no compromises filtered their stand and their fight through the lens of Jesus. We can do what seems right to man and compromise and for a moment in time, it may appear to be the loving thing, but God will never allow anything HE does not call love to be called love and when HE calls ALL life valuable then our job is not to make excuses, not to compromise, not to make exceptions but to respond to HIS Heart and do the same by calling all life valuable as well….with no exceptions. We must not settle for exceptions…the same way those that truly took a stand against slavery would not settle for at least some states being free states, we must not settle for at least some babies being saved while others die…….
Suzanne Guy
Save the 1 speaker and blogger
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Save The 1 Intervenes in Iowa Heartbeat Case -- Our Hearts Beat Too! By Rebecca Kiessling, with Brad and Jesi Smith
On May 4, 2018, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the Heartbeat Bill into law which would protect unborn children who have a detectable heartbeat, except "when the abortion is medically necessary" and defines "medically necessary" as cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormality, making the abortion provider the sole arbiter of these determinations. These exceptions were surprisingly added -- allegedly because certain legislators in the House would not sign the bill without exceptions.
Save The 1 is a global pro-life organization of over 600 of us who were conceived in rape, incest or sex trafficking and mothers who became pregnant by rape, incest or sex trafficking who are either raising their children, birth mothers, miscarried, or post-abortive and mourn the loss of their children. Additionally, we have hundreds who were told by physicians to abort due to a pre-natal diagnosis, along with their children who were targeted by doctors. We specialize in defending all of the so-called “hard cases” in the abortion debate through sharing our personal stories, and we additionally act as a support network. The deadly discrimination contained in the exceptions within the Iowa Heartbeat Law hurts us -- because our hearts beat too!I testified a year earlier on a life-at-conception bill. We are grateful to the Iowa Coalition for Life -- a coalition of the major pro-life organizations in Iowa who brought us in to testify and who vigorously opposed the exceptions.
We discussed what our response as an organization should be. We could cooperate in order that we may have a "seat at the table" and be invited back to Iowa to speak and to testify again on a future bill. But to what end? To have another viral video which ultimately is rendered ineffective in gaining any protection for us and our children? Do we want to be popular, or protected?
Others would like for us to roll over and play dead. Sometimes it feels like the game is fixed -- like this is the Harlem Globetrotters and we are merely the Washington Generals. We aren't supposed to cry foul when our players are thrown to the ground. Politically, many are quite used to us being the sacrificial lamb, and we are supposed to somehow be understanding and cooperative as we are lead to slaughter.
We are told, "It's nothing against you personally," but we are persons, the attack on our very right to life could not possibly be more personal, and of course we will take it personally!
If it were just us who have already been born and merely a matter of our feelings being hurt, perhaps we could somehow "let it go," but there are others who are yet at risk, who are being targeted for killing, who are just as deserving of protection as any of us, and so, we are fighting back.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland recently filed a lawsuit against the state of Iowa, and we are now filing a motion to intervene as necessary third party intervenors "of right" since the current Plaintiff, Planned Parenthood, clearly will not argue on behalf of our interests. The exceptions within the Iowa Fetal Heartbeat law violate our fundamental right to life, depriving us of due process and equal protection under both the Iowa and U.S. constitutions. Thankfully, there is a severability clause in the legislation so that the offending provisions can be severed and the remainder of the law upheld. We have three attorneys representing Save The 1: Erin Mersino -- a pro-life constitutional law attorney from Michigan with the Great Lakes Justice Center, Eric Borseth -- an attorney from Iowa and a board member of Personhood Iowa, and myself.
As a pro-life attorney, this is why I went to law school. While attending Wayne State law school, I wrote what has been for decades the #1-ranked philosophical abortion essay, "The Right of the Unborn Child Not to be Unjustly Killed -- a philosophy of rights approach." If I can't defend my own right to life in court, then what is the point of being a pro-life attorney? What is the point of being alive? Just to be selfish and live my life without caring about others who are yet at risk? I was protected by Michigan law when my birth mother sought to kill me at two illegal abortions. As a rape victim, she was not offered any help or hope -- just abortion. My life was spared for a purpose, and for such a time as this I will use my life, my talents, my expertise and law degree to save others.
The discriminatory language in the Iowa Heartbeat law defines "medically necessary" as cases in which:
a. The pregnancy which is the result of a rape which is reported within forty-five days of the incident to a law enforcement agency or to a public or private health agency which may include a family physician.
b. The pregnancy is the result of incest which is reported within one hundred forty days of the incident to a law enforcement agency or to a public or private health agency which may include a family physician.
c. Any spontaneous abortion, commonly known as a miscarriage, if not all of the products of conception are expelled.
d. The attending physician certifies that the fetus has a fetal abnormality that in the physician’s reasonable medical judgment is incompatible with life.
Interestingly, among the bill’s
definitions, rape, incest, fetal abnormality and incompatible with life are not
included or even cross-referenced with other sections of the Iowa code, as
other definitions are cross-referenced. So the abortion providers get to decide what they deem to qualify as rape, incest and incompatible with life.
The rape, incest and fetal abnormality exceptions are based upon a fabrication that aborting these unborn children is “medically necessary.” Not one witness testified in the Senate hearing as to such a medical necessity. This language was added to appease state representatives in the House who said they would not approve the bill without language that excludes these children from protection. In other words, the legislative intent was that they believed it was politically necessary – not medically necessary, if they were being honest. The language not only excludes innocent children from protection, doing so under a faulty premise, but really was intended merely to protect certain politicians and nothing to do with protecting pregnant mothers.
The rape, incest and fetal abnormality exceptions are based upon a fabrication that aborting these unborn children is “medically necessary.” Not one witness testified in the Senate hearing as to such a medical necessity. This language was added to appease state representatives in the House who said they would not approve the bill without language that excludes these children from protection. In other words, the legislative intent was that they believed it was politically necessary – not medically necessary, if they were being honest. The language not only excludes innocent children from protection, doing so under a faulty premise, but really was intended merely to protect certain politicians and nothing to do with protecting pregnant mothers.
The abortion physician is given the
power to decide whether the unborn child has a fetal abnormality and whether
the living unborn child with a detectable heartbeat is somehow “incompatible
with life.” These preborn children are
actually disabled children, and as such, should be protected under the
Americans With Disabilities Act.
Additionally, and equally as
troubling, the report of the rape and/or incest merely needs to be made to the
“public or private health agency” – in other words, to the abortion clinic. So the abortion clinic becomes the sole
arbiter of whether a woman was raped and whether her child is to suffer the
death penalty for the alleged crimes of his or her biological father, with no
guidelines provided within the legislation.
This clearly lacks due process and fails to provide equal protection.
The third prong of the exceptions doesn't even make sense at all, because the law only applies when there is a fetal heartbeat. So how could this possibly be a spontaneous abortion situation when there's a beating heart? In so many respects, the exception provisions are extremely poorly written law.
The targeting of our people groups for
exclusion of protection, and in fact, for state-approved killing is clearly
discriminatory. The sting of this discrimination
not only affects every unborn child who is deemed to fit into these legislative
categories of rape, incest or fetal abnormality, but is lifelong – affecting
every person born who was conceived in rape or given a challenging pre-natal
diagnosis by a physician. Additionally,
it causes anguish to the mothers who became pregnant by rape or who were told
by doctors to abort. They grieve at how
their children are so quickly devalued by politicians and within the law.
Permitting abortion for rape, incest and fetal
abnormalities sends a message to our people groups that our lives are worth less
than anyone else’s. Imagine having an exception in cases of Asian babies,
Jewish babies, or left-handed babies. The message sent is that these
people are not worthy of living and did not deserve to be protected like
everyone else. There would be an international outcry if such discrimination against these other people groups were even proposed. Yet, it is the same for us, and we feel the sting of
such hatred against or apathy toward our lives.
The rape survivor mothers and those told by doctors to abort grieve how their children are systematically targeted and devalued. The rape victim mothers are not believed they were raped because they didn’t abort and because they actually love their children.
The rape survivor mothers and those told by doctors to abort grieve how their children are systematically targeted and devalued. The rape victim mothers are not believed they were raped because they didn’t abort and because they actually love their children.
We appreciate concern for pregnant rape victims, but
they are four times more likely to die within the next year after an abortion,
as opposed to giving birth. In Dr. David Reardon’s book, Victims andVictors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions and Children ResultingFrom Sexual Assault, he cites the research done on the subject. After an
abortion, rape victims have higher rates of murder, suicide, drug overdose,
etc.. Rapists, child molesters and sex traffickers love abortion, which
destroys the evidence and enables them to continue perpetrating. Sexual
predators depend upon abortion clinics because the abortion protects them – not
the pregnant rape victim.
Tragically, it is at times a girl’s own mother who has
been either trafficking her or leaving her unprotected. It is always the
baby who exposes the rape, who delivers the pregnant mother out of the abusive situation,
protecting her and bringing her healing. If the legislators truly care about rape victims, then they must protect her from the rapist and
from the abortion, and not the baby! Her
baby is not the enemy, despite what the legislated exceptions suggest.
In regards to a diagnosis of “incompatible with life”
– it is impossible to be such when you are still living. Physicians who
peddle abortion are truly the ones with fatal heart defects, often failing to
treat the children of parents who refused to abort. A eugenics mentality
becomes pervasive when you allow abortion. For parents who are told by doctors to abort, the
pressure is tremendous – and not just during the pregnancy, but after the child
is born when doctors often refuse to treat their disabled child.
The purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to guaranty
that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as
everyone else. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with
disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race,
color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. Accordingly, as a suspect class, the offending
provisions against disabled children within the Iowa Heartbeat Bill should be
subject to strict scrutiny.
The Iowa Heartbeat bill’s bewildering
exceptions legislate extreme and inexplicable hatred toward disabled children
in the womb, as well as those conceived in rape or incest. Prenatal testing -- instead of being used to
treat and heal -- is used for search and destroy missions for those with medically
identifiable disabilities. Iowa
legislators have now authorized doctors to commit genocide against an entire
people group, decreasing their voices and representation within society.
This deliberate targeting and killing
of our people groups also results in doubt being cast upon rape victims for not
aborting “like a true rape victim would”, and the “blaming” of parents for not
aborting their disabled children who are seen within much of the medical
community as a burden on the health care system – much like the Nazi regime
which employed the medical designation of “lebensunwertes leben” (“life
unworthy of life”), referring to the disabled as “useless eaters.”
Using terminology such as “fetal
abnormality” or “incompatible with life“ as classifications for children with
disability is deceiving and treacherous treatment from a government which claims its citizens have equal protection under the law. Born children and adults are treated by some physicians
as “incompatible with life,” and doctors and hospitals point to “medical futility
policies” in order to justify discrimination against these disabled
individuals. This deadly eugenics is
alive and well today in the United States, and now codified in Iowa by the exceptions within this new
law.
Physicians’ predictions are not
medical certainty and denying the right to life and equal protection to entire
groups of disabled children based on an abortion doctor’s best guess is not
medical science. Bias and arrogance of
those who wish to promote biological superiority through the destruction of
disabled children in the womb brings new meaning to the words biological
warfare.
A child’s God-given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should never be denied because of his or her disability or circumstances of conception. His or her value is not based on what he or she is able to do or the behavior of his or her parents; rather, it is based on his or her humanity and that the child has been endowed by his or her Creator with these inalienable rights.
A child’s God-given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should never be denied because of his or her disability or circumstances of conception. His or her value is not based on what he or she is able to do or the behavior of his or her parents; rather, it is based on his or her humanity and that the child has been endowed by his or her Creator with these inalienable rights.
We’ve had parents within our
organization who refused to abort and were told by doctors:
“The only further testing you will receive is
an autopsy,”
“If your child is born not breathing,
we won’t resuscitate,” and
“Your child has already outlived her
life expectancy.”
Some parents have endured others looking
at their disabled child in their arms and asking, “Didn’t you get any pre-natal
testing?”
The clear expectation and even
obligation is to abort. The Iowa
legislature has now codified this deadly discrimination.
Since the government has not done its
duty to protect disabled children in the womb, they are also targeted after
leaving the womb. Many children have
medical treatments withheld and denied leading to their death simply because
they have a disability.
Children conceived in rape are often
called dehumanizing names such as:
“Demon seed,” “evil seed,” “horrible
reminder,” “rapist’s child” (an insult to every rape victim mother who knows
that this is her child,) “monster’s child,” “demon spawn,” “Satan’s child,”
“tainting the gene pool,” and on and on. The exceptions within the Iowa Fetal Heartbeat law suggest there is something inherently different about the child conceived in rape that they would be unworthy of protection. To legislate that aborting us is "medically necessary" further suggests that we are somehow medically harming our mothers -- furthering the notion that we are somehow the ones raping our mothers. But we are entirely innocent and we plead our innocence.
While some states like Michigan,
Georgia and Nebraska do not have a single rape exception within the law, there
are other jurisdictions where the child conceived in rape is singled-out and
systematically targeted for extermination.
This lack of equal protection undeniably feeds into the discrimination
within the culture. It codifies hatred,
fear and prejudice against an innocent child.
A civilized nation must protect the
lives of the innocent and disabled child, not target them for extermination and
codify hatred. It is barbaric to punish
an innocent child for someone else’s crime.
The legislature should focus on punishing rapists, not babies and the
Court must focus on protecting lives of the innocent and not the careers of
politicians or interests of the abortion industry. More violence does not bring healing, but
only more pain, more destruction and a less empathetic society.
Given that there was no testimony
before the Iowa legislature from physicians or expert witnesses to suggest that
denying equal protection and due process for our people groups is somehow a
“medical necessity,” it is impossible for the state to claim even a rational
basis for the violation of the most fundamental right. For the disabled unborn child, the state
cannot claim any sort of governmental interest in codifying eugenics, and
certainly not a compelling governmental interest. Assuming medical necessity based upon faulty
assumptions is deadly, and must not stand as a basis for violating the right to
life and equal protection of the laws.
As far as we know, this is the first time in the U.S. and even globally that a group of people like us has defended our own right to life in court. To every legislator nationwide who wants to target our people group within pro-life legislation: we are united, we have a voice, and we will fight back!
BIO: Rebecca Kiessling, conceived in rape, is a pro-life attorney, international pro-life
speaker, wife and mother of 5. She is the president and founder of Save The 1. Brad and Jesi Smith, Save The 1 pro-life speakers contributed. Their youngest daughter, Faith, was born with Trisomy 18. They were behind the Good Faith Medical Act passed in Michigan -- the first of its kind in the nation.
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