[Z]

Imagine being raped and being forced to carry that child to term... and then either you raise it yourself, every day you are living with the product of your worst nightmare; or you give the child up for adoption... what happens when that child gets older and they want to know why they don't have a dad, or they're adopted? I can't even imagine how gut wrenching it would feel to know that you were the product of a crime and that your mother either couldn't face up to keeping you in her life/your mother had to be reminded of what happened to her every single day. And none of that would be your fault because you didn't rape your mum, you didn't somehow cause your dad to rape your mum, you were just the result of a horrific experience. Shouldn't children have the right to know that they were the result of a loving relationship? Knowing that they were planned, or at least welcomed even if it wasn't planned? I'm not saying every woman who is raped who carries a child to term hates her child; in fact I'm fairly certain the child would be the one positive thing you would focus on - but the child still has the knowledge that they were the result of a rape. Or should the mother never tell the child and be forced to keep it to herself?

I mean I just think it's impossible to say that every conception should be carried to term regardless of the circumstances. Contraceptives fail, crimes happen, miscarriages unfortunately occur, sometimes people make bad judgment calls, sometimes couples get pregnant to save their relationship and it falls apart anyway, some people have children they will never love and can't wait to get back to looking out for themselves rather than a child...

I certainly don't remember being in my mother's womb. That's not to say I wasn't a sentient being with my own fingers, toes and tiny little brain developing inside of her, but up until that point (or a couple of weeks before it) when doctors say it's no longer viable to have an abortion, I think it's different. They are medical professionals, they know what they're talking about. And above all - why on earth should a law be able to dictate what happens to a person's body? Who is anyone else to decide what you can and can't do with your body? Some people, for a great number of reasons, may not be ready at that moment in their life to have that particular foetus turn into a baby and they're certainly not ready to stop making their own life about themselves. Why would a bystander want to see a child be brought into the world by someone who doesn't want to have that child? To me, that's cruelty...

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Zee

Imagine being raped and being forced to carry that child to term... and then either you raise it yourself, every day you are living with the product of your worst nightmare; or you give the child up for adoption... what happens when that child gets older and they want to know why they don't have a dad, or they're adopted? I can't even imagine how gut wrenching it would feel to know that you were the product of a crime and that your mother either couldn't face up to keeping you in her life/your mother had to be reminded of what happened to her every single day. And none of that would be your fault because you didn't rape your mum, you didn't somehow cause your dad to rape your mum, you were just the result of a horrific experience. Shouldn't children have the right to know that they were the result of a loving relationship? Knowing that they were planned, or at least welcomed even if it wasn't planned? I'm not saying every woman who is raped who carries a child to term hates her child; in fact I'm fairly certain the child would be the one positive thing you would focus on - but the child still has the knowledge that they were the result of a rape. Or should the mother never tell the child and be forced to keep it to herself?

I mean I just think it's impossible to say that every conception should be carried to term regardless of the circumstances. Contraceptives fail, crimes happen, miscarriages unfortunately occur, sometimes people make bad judgment calls, sometimes couples get pregnant to save their relationship and it falls apart anyway, some people have children they will never love and can't wait to get back to looking out for themselves rather than a child...

I certainly don't remember being in my mother's womb. That's not to say I wasn't a sentient being with my own fingers, toes and tiny little brain developing inside of her, but up until that point (or a couple of weeks before it) when doctors say it's no longer viable to have an abortion, I think it's different. They are medical professionals, they know what they're talking about. And above all - why on earth should a law be able to dictate what happens to a person's body? Who is anyone else to decide what you can and can't do with your body? Some people, for a great number of reasons, may not be ready at that moment in their life to have that particular foetus turn into a baby and they're certainly not ready to stop making their own life about themselves. Why would a bystander want to see a child be brought into the world by someone who doesn't want to have that child? To me, that's cruelty...

as I say we need a better balance....the irish example is absurd, but the UK situation with 1 million+ abortions every 6 years is absurd and tragic too.
Far more safeguards need to be in place, far more advice, support systems etc to parents....more babies survive now at 24 weeks than ever before....alas the number who abort due to rape is tiny, the number who abort for health reasons is also small, the vast majority it seems are choices...which is tragic....why do these parents / mothers feel they have no option but to terminate the babies life, when no ones life is at risk and no rape has occurred? then many live to regret it the rest of their lives and the poor baby has no life to regret....our rates are some of the highest in the world...its sad and we need to see politicians and people discuss it without the sexism feminist card being thrown about.....after all of those 1 million babies killed over 500,000 are female