Should Abortion Be Legal Worldwide in the Result of Rape and Incest?

Henry Meade

Writers Workshop

Ms. Ryan

6/19/15

Should Abortion be Legal Worldwide in The Result of Rape and Incest

In our society, abortion is a very debatable subject. Depending on the location in the world, people have different beliefs regarding abortion. Should abortion be legal worldwide in the result of rape or incest? Many countries have denied people the right to have an abortion, no matter what the case is, but some states in the U.S. are standing up for women’s rights and claiming otherwise. Therefore, the government should not have a say in what a woman chooses to do, when she becomes pregnant.

In a study done by Debate.org, 58% of people say that abortion should be legal in the case of rape and incest, while 42% disagree. “Why should the woman have to suffer twice? She was already raped, and now you’re telling her that she should have to be stuck with an unwanted child?" One man stated. He, along with many other men and women, believe that women should have the right to abort their baby, no matter where they live, or how the baby was conceived. The man also believes that the baby should only be abortable in the first trimester, when it is still in a fetus state. On the other side, many people argue that aborting a baby is the equivalent of murder, no matter how the baby was conceived. "If abortion is the taking of a life, then a life should therefore be more important than the mother’s discomfort, no matter how much that might be." Ober Herr, an eighteen-year-old high school student states,  "The baby’s life overrules her discomfort, or hate for the baby."  

In many cases, many women who are raped chose not to have an abortion because they feel that it will add onto the stress and pain they are already going through. In a study done by The Elliot Institute, a non profit organization that runs the website afterabortion.org did a study on abortion: Out of 192 different women that all conceived their babies during incest or rape, 61% chose to not abort the baby, while 29% had an abortion, and 1.5% had a miscarriage. Out of all the women that chose to abort their baby, 80% regretted their decision. 43% of those people were pressured to abort. “Often I cry. Cry because I could not stop the attacks. Cry because my daughter is dead. And I cry because it still hurts,” a woman named Nancy states. Other women tell The Elliot Institute that being raped was not as emotionally scarring as aborting their baby.

Steven Wagner believes that in God’s image, it is not right to have an abortion, no matter how the baby was conceived. The bible states that it is wrong to kill a baby, and it does not matter how young the child is. Many people around the world agree with this statement and are not willing to consider any other ideas. On the other hand, many people believe that women should have the option. One anonymous writer states: “No one wants a baby conceived by violent means! Who wants to give birth to a baby conceived because of a violent rape or disgusting incest? If a woman's rights are violated in the first place, she has a right to abort the baby that came about from said violation. Rape and incest already scar women for life, there is no need to make the horrific event worse by forcing the woman to bring the baby to term.”