From: slkg9733@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steven L. Kellmeyer)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: Rape, Incest, and Abortion
Date: 15 Apr 92 23:20:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: ux1.1992Apr15.232051.8485
Distribution: talk.abortion
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana



According to Sandra Kathleen Mahkorn, in "Pregnancy and Sexual
Assault" in the book "The Psychological Aspects of Abortion" edited
by David Mall and Walter F. Watts, a study of 2,190 assaults, yielded
a pregnancy rate of 0.6%.  She studied 37 pregnant rape victims who
had been counseled by various social welfare agencies.  28 of those
women had chosen to carry their pregnancy to term, 5 chose abortion,
and the outcome of the remaining 4 could not be determined.

Of the 28 who went to term, 17 chose adoption, 3 chose to keep the child,
and details for the remaining 8 were unknown.  When asked what conditios
or situations made it most difficult to continue the pregnancy, the most
frequent response was social pressure - their friends, families and 
boyfriends pressured them to abort, believing that the women could not
"really" have been raped if they wanted to keep the child.

The women who suffered the rape were viewed as being made unclean by the
act of violence perpetrated on them, and this "dirtiness" was extended
to the child in utero.  Abortion was seen as a solution since it would
"purify" the woman and remove the "stain" of the unclean child.

Dr. Makhorn further found that, while anger over the attack was occasionally
displaced towards the child, this anger consistently changed to positive
attitudes as the pregnancy progressed.  By the time they delivered, the 
women who carried to term had much-improved self-images and a positive 
view towards their child.  Mahkorn writes:
  
  The belief that pregnancy following rape will emotionally and 
  psychologically devestate the victim reflects the common misconception
  that women are helpless creatures who must be protected from the 
  harsh realities of the world... pregnancy need not impede the victim's
  resolution of the trauma; rather, with loving support, nonjudgmental
  attitudes, and empathic communicatio, healthy emotional and 
  psychological responses are possible despite the added burden of
  pregnancy.

Furthermore, she wrote:

  Because it is likely that the victim already harbors feelings of
  guilt as a result fo thea assault, medico-social pressures which
  encourage and result in abortio could compound the woman's feelings
  of guilt and self-blame... many physician's prescribe abortion as
  one would prescribe aspirin for a tension headache...such condescending
  attitudes towards women on the part of physicians, friends, and family
  can only serve to reaffirm the sense of helplessness and vulnerability
  that was so violently conveyed in the act of sexual assault itself...
  The central issue, then, should not be whether we can abort all pregnant
  sexual assault victims, but rather ...[whether we] support such women
  through their pregnancies.

Feminist Mary Meehan, also writing on this issue:

  Psychological support, especially from the woman's family and friends,
  is enormously important.  They should stand by her and say clearly that,
  no matter what the circumstances of conception, there should NEVER be
  any embarrassment about bringing a child into the world.  There should
  never be anything but pride to that. (Mary Meehan, "Accepting the Unjust"
  National Catholic Register, 18 April 1982)

Similarly, Dr. George Malloof, writing in "The Psychological Consequences
of Abortion" ("The consequences of incest"), writes:

  "Furthermore, the incestuous relationship requires psychiatric care...
  [Abortion] will neither correect the pathology nor mend the hurt.

Indeed, it is pointed out that aborting young girls is the best way
to destroy evidence of an incestuous relationship.  The pressure these
girls face from an exploitive father and an ignorant or silently collusive
mother is tremendous, yet few counseling centers ask serious questions 
about why such a young woman was sexually active.


Legal abortion is an excellent excuse for ignoring women who have been
exploited.  The problem is theirs, not ours.  We can pressure them to
remove the stain we associate with the violence done to them, and 
walk away feeling good about how we "solved" their problem.

SK

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