by Todd Daigneault

Created on: September 07, 2009

This is a tough thing for any woman to go through. After all, rape is the ultimate form of violation, either for a man or a woman. But for a woman-it can be especially traumatic-as rape goes to the core of human degradation. This has been a dilemma for many women over the ages when raped and subsequently impregnated: How does she view the child of such an inhuman, uncivilized act of utter barbarism? One school of thought views the child as a monsterous reminder of that act of degradation, violence and control. Another school of thought would still see the child as being half hers: something she carried and nurtured in her body. So she should love all of it, not separating what is essentially just the two sets of DNA..

This is a hard call for this author. Being a male, I cannot fully comprehend the violation of rape, never mind the conceiving and carrying of a child. Also every individual, like the two schools of thought, are for carrying and non-carrying of the child. To understand the trauma that the woman is going through one needs to be in those footsteps. We can empathize, whether we are male or female, but we can never fully comprehend. Another woman may be closer in understanding her plight, but will never fully understand. This is a hard call. At the end of the day, I will support both sides.

Unlike abortion, which has been so divisive over the years, a child by rape is so much different. The conception, pregnancy and birth was by a violent act of control-certainly not by a woman's choice. So this author can understand a woman choosing an abortion, not wanting to be reminded of the trauma of rape. But her choosing to keep the child is her own choice, and something that should not be influenced or reminded by another special interest group, pro and con, abortion or not. That includes her carrying the child, but then either keeping it or giving the child up for adoption.

People have to be reminded that the woman is the victim, not the perpetrator/criminal. She should not be persecuted in any way. Unlike sexual offenders like Mary Kay Letourneau, who deliberately had sex and became pregnant by their victims, women who are the victims of rape should not be persecuted in any way...irregardless of them being pregnant or not.

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