Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle has been making headlines with her absolutist anti-choice views. This Tea Party favorite has spoken about her belief that all abortions should be illegal, even in the case of rape and incest, on multiple occasions.Most recently, the buzz has been centered on her radio interview on the Alan Stock Show in late-June. Stock asked about her recent television interview in which the host asked if she would tell a 13-year-old girl that was raped by her father that she has to have the baby. Angle responded with an anecdotal story of how she saved the life of a teen rape victim's daughter from abortion. Angle claimed that "two wrongs don't make a right" in reference to aborting a rape-induced pregnancy and that the people she counseled were able to make "a lemon situation into lemonade."
However, this is extremely problematic. If Angle had her way, girls impregnated by their fathers would be forced to give birth! It is bad enough to deal with the trauma of rape, let alone incestuous rape, but to deal with the government forcing her to give birth to a child that will forever be associated with such a horrendous event is ridiculous! In addition, it can be dangerous. Still developing, teenagers are at a much higher risk of having serious complications.
How is Sharron Angle ok with putting women's lives at risk to save what isn't even a person yet?
Well... She believes that "God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives." Personally, I am an Atheist and am accepting of others' religious beliefs, but I take issue with her statement. I am ok with religious individuals making statements like "it's part of God's plan" or "God works in mysterious ways," but would God really want a young teen to be raped and go through a pregnancy to end up dying? Sorry, but isn't God supposed to be just and loving? Why would he want someone to go through so much pain-- is he teaching a moral lesson or punishing these young women?
Sorry, Ms. Angle, but I don't think religion justifies forcing rape victims to give birth. Perhaps, you are confusing religion and politics, or maybe you should let other people worry about their fate and allow them their reproductive freedom.
Photo Credit: Huffington Post
2 comments:
I 100% agree that it is absolutely wrong to force women to give birth, no matter how they became pregnant.
However, I feel this article is acting as if every rape victim feels that carrying the pregnancy to term would be traumatic.
From what I understand, statistics show that most rape victims actually choose to carry their pregnancy to term, not to abort.
Forcing a woman who wants to abort a pregnancy after rape to carry to term is horrendous. But we should also remember that some women choose to carry to term after a rape.
This is so outrageous! Thank you for posting because we need to know what these people are doing and trying to do. I feel sick after reading this! Dr. Patti www.girlthrive.com - author of "Invisible Girls: The Truth About Sexual Abuse"
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