For many rape victims, being forced to carry a pregnancy can involve lovely things such as a constant trigger for the psychiatric trauma caused by the rape. Do you really think it's right to make someone go through that? (If rape victims weren't able to get legal, safe abortions)
I mean, yes, I understand the think of the baby! standpoint... but what about the mother? Shouldn't we be thinking of her, too?
Rape is a truly tragic thing for a woman to have to endure. And there can certainly be long-term psychological trauma that can't even begin to be dealt with in the coming few months.
Ideally no pregnancy would result. And statistically, thankfully, it is rare.
But if it does happen then yes, you have a woman pregnant with a baby as the result of a rape, still in the throes of immediate psychological trauma. This is indeed a very unfortunate circumstance.
But have you considered the related dangers?
Ideally, she might progress to the understanding that the child is as much a created victim as herself, and innocent of any wrongdoing. She might be able to progress to the understanding that God can bring good from a very evil act. And of course, the child is her very own child, her own flesh and blood, as much as any beloved child born of any mother.
But what happens if she has an abortion in order to be spared the months of being reminded of the attack (she's not going to be able to forget it so quickly anyway) ... and THEN reaches the understanding I mention above, and for the rest of her life has to confront the guilt she feels at having been encouraged to murder her own child, just for the sake of being less-reminded of a trauma she can't forget anyway?
But once the abortion is done, it can't be undone. No one can "fix" that guilt for her.
It is not so different from a young woman who gets pregnant, unmarried, unintentionally, and her own parents, perhaps the baby's father and his parents, whoever, are pressuring the girl to abort the baby, maybe against her own conscience, because it will bring unwanted cost, inconvenience, and/or shame upon everyone? Sometimes young women give into this pressure and are scarred with guilt for life.
So what is the best psychological outcome for the woman? The truth is, no one knows. But it could be worse for having killed the child. And as I said, she isn't going to forget the rape within 9 months anyway.
And we cannot forget that it is entirely possible that the act of giving birth, bringing a precious life into the world, whether she loves and raises that child herself, or gives it into the care of adoptive parents, is an act of love that can serve as an amazingly cathartic rebellion against the act of hate that was performed upon her person. The baby can serve as healing in a way nothing else could do.
Maybe.
But we can't know, and making that decision so quickly after the assault, when the emotions are raw, runs the risk of damaging her further for life, and robbing her of one of the best tools for healing she may have. And that's just the woman's perspective. It still kills an innocent child as well.
So putting that forth as an immediate solution could be very misguided.
What I would strongly support, having said this, is to take non-abortive measures to prevent any conception from occurring, if possible. And if it does happen, to offer the woman intensive counseling to hopefully reach the understanding I've detailed above. I'm not saying force the woman to do anything. But she DESERVES to be made fully aware of the possible medical and psychological consequences of abortion before any such decision is reached.
