Pregnancy from rape is an ‘opportunity’: The true face of the pro-life movement

You may have noticed that whenever people defending or promoting the most extreme anti-abortion legislation — like the proposed bill criminalizing all abortions except as a life-saving measure currently being debated in Ohio — are asked why they don’t support exceptions for rape or incest, the answers are invariably cruel. The Ohio bill’s sponsor, Republican State Senator Jean Schmidt, was asked about the possibility of rape in a legislative hearing on Wednesday. Specifically, she was asked to defend the bill in the case of a hypothetical: say a 13-year-old girl was raped and became pregnant. Would that child be forced to carry to term?

This is what Schmidt said in response:

“Rape is a difficult issue. And it emotionally scars the individual, all or in part for the rest of their life. Just as child abuse does. But if a baby is created, it is a human life. And whether that mother ends that pregnancy or not, the scars will not go away. Period. It is a shame that it happens, but there’s an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being. She can choose to raise the child. She can choose to give that child to a loving family member. Or to give it to someone else. And that child can grow up and be something magnificent, a wonderful family person, cure cancer, etcetera. This is not about keeping abortion alive. This is about keeping the mother alive. And just because you have emotional scars doesn’t give you the right to take a life.”