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i don't understand the rape exception either. i see the point one person made (sorry, forget your name) that their views on abortion are not religious, but that they feel if you make the choice to have sex you take the responsibility for it.
my real question for those who think abortion is wrong except in cases of rape or incest--how are you planning to enforce that? incest cases can be proven with dna, but rape? if there's no bruising are you going to tell the woman she's lying? what if she was drugged or intoxicated at the time and was unable to resist? or what if she was just scared shitless and didn't fight back? plenty of women don't you know--before you tell her she should, think how you'd respond to someone pointing a knife or gun at you, or worse, someone you love.
are you going to force her to press charges against her attacker and only make abortion available once the jury comes back? what if she doesn't know who it is or the police don't find him? investigations and trials take time--what happens if she's got to wait more than the term of her pregnancy for a verdict? or what if she's due to give birth at any moment--are you ok with an abortion since she's proved it was a result of rape?
what if she doesn't want to press charges (not all women do)? abortion isn't an option for her because she can't or won't prove it in court?
to me, this sort of "exception" isn't really an exception at all. it's either a way to make it legal for those who want it bad enough (lie, say you were raped and report an unknown attacker) or a way to prevent it (virtually) entirely because the woman couldn't prove she was raped in time to have an abortion.
and i don't think saying "if your wife were raped" is really a good scenario, let's use "if your 12 year old daughter were raped" instead. an adult woman may be able to understand (even if she doesn't agree) with being forced to go to term with the pregnancy, particularly if she had the support of her spouse. parents forcing a child to explain how she came to be pregnant to all her sixth grade friends (or being seen as a slut to everyone, including strangers on the street) and dealing with the results of that would be a lot more difficult. forcing her to grow up knowing she has a child out there somewhere once it was placed for adoption? or forcing her to be a part of the life of a child she never wanted (either as a parent or a sibling)? how many 12 year old girls are really prepared to make such a decision under any circumstances--but especially after being raped? forcing your young daughter understand and deal with the trauma of rape and the resulting pregnancy? i struggle to imagine forcing a child through that, and i don't have kids!
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