13 year old mother - pro-lifers thrilled *rape trigger*

[treehugger]

My apologies if this has been discussed before. I tried to search it, but I couldn't find anything.

Apparently, I have too many die-hard fundie friends on Facebook. One of my friends liked this article (I know, I know, it's lifesitenews :roll: ). I read it, and now, all I can see is red. lifesitenews.com/blog/raped-impregnated-13-year-old-keeps-baby

The whole article is so full of propaganda and I am having a really hard time imagining a 13 year old being able to make the decision to become a mother so rationally.

The comments are also sickening. Everything is just so fucked up - and I hate that all these pro-lifers are so excited about a 13 year old keeping a baby and

"realizing the true value of life at all stages" :angry-banghead: while not fucking clue-ing into the fact that a 13 yr old GIRL would have loads of trauma after being raped and that maybe, having a baby isn't the smartest thing is the world for a kid to be doing - especially when her body would not be fully developed. Also, being a parents is an insane responsibility! Fuck, I am so pissed I can't even form a proper sentence. :angry-banghead:

[Phoebe]

What. The. Fuck. :cray-cray:

[bucherwurm]

This is like a real version of the pro-life video posted not too long ago. With the dancing angels and such.

[NoneandDoneinCali]

Oh, but if it had been consensual sex, she would be a tramp, right? I sure hope all this support is still around when she's 17 and trying to juggle high school graduation with single parenthood, childcare and (most likely) poverty.

I think I'm going to be sick. :oops:

[twinmama]

OH MY GOD why do people not understand that because something was the right decision for you does not mean that it is the right decision for someone else?????? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Fine, for this particular 13 year old girl maybe she shouldn't have had an abortion and maybe everything was all unicorns and rainbows going to 7th grade as a mother. But somehow she lacks the ability to see that not every single 13 year old who has suffered the horrific things she did wants to be a mother.

I can't imagine how postpartum hormones must fuck up someone that young. I could barely handle them at 32, nevermind regular 13 year old crazy hormones and being raped in addition to them.

[twinmama]

Oh, but if it had been consensual sex, she would be a tramp, right? I sure hope all this support is still around when she's 17 and trying to juggle high school graduation with single parenthood, childcare and (most likely) poverty.

I think I'm going to be sick. :oops:

Ah but this was all years and years ago and now she's fully grown, was class historian (wtf?) in high school, and married and had 4 more kids. So you know, every 13 year old who's been raped should totally have a baby because she did. :angry-banghead:

[ILoveJellybeans]

13??? She cant have a baby, shes only a baby herself. Do they not care what it would do to her body to have a baby when youre so tiny yourself. Kids shouldn't have kids, and for a kid that young, especially a small 13 year old like this girl was, pregnancy can be dangerous.

Why is anyone thrilled about this situation? Its a 13 year old who had a baby from being raped. Whether she kept the baby or not, this isn't something you should be pleased about her choice or use as propaganda.

Abortion doesn't protect pedophiles, just because a baby wasn't born, doesn't mean there is no evidence.

Sure, this girl doesn't regret her decision to keep the baby, but it doesn't mean that no raped teenager should ever abort. Most of them wouldn't want to be a mother. Im not sure what I would do in this situation, with a pregnant little girl who wanted to keep it, I guess she does have the right to choose just as the rest of the world does, but also she is way too young to be a mother. I am glad she was supported by family who looked after her child while she went to school, but lots of other teenagers who become pregnant don't get that support and often end up dropping out of school.

[twinmama]

Also, I don't know if it's different for a pedophile than a person who rapes a legal adult, but rapists also can have a right to see the child. So having the child may not "protect" the pedophile, but it can possibly also keep them in their victim's life if they choose to assert their parental rights or whatever.

But I guess the second a child is conceived, no one gives a shit about the host anymore. Even if they are 13 years old and a child themselves.

And I'm curious, does a 13 year old have the legal right to make the abortion/no abortion decision or is it her parent or guardian's decision? I feel like I've read that once you're pregnant you're legally an adult (like in some Teen Mom MTV show or something) for medical decisions.

[FloraKitty35]

:angry-banghead: :cray-cray: :pull-hair: :angry-screaming:

[Rowan]

Abortion doesn't protect pedophiles, just because a baby wasn't born, doesn't mean there is no evidence.

Right - her failure to tell her mother the first time she got pregnant (and therefore had "evidence") or at any point before that when he was abusing her was what protected her pedophile stepfather. "Abortion" of him drugging her up (???) so she would lose the baby just furthered the abuse!

So much WTF.

[mlady]

It's revisionist history and propaganda and I wouldn't be surprised it most of it was embellished for dramatic purposes. If real at all. Some folks don't mind a fable if it fits the agenda. It's not a "lie", it's an "example".

[BalconySmoker]

As much as it bothers me that a rape victim is being trotted out as a pro-life trophy piece, shit like this bothers me more.

"Right - her failure to tell her mother the first time she got pregnant (and therefore had "evidence") or at any point before that when he was abusing her was what protected her pedophile stepfather."

A CHILD BEING RAPED doesn't "fail" to do anything. She was a victim of a sexual predator who likely groomed her into silence. Statements like this imply that the victim is somehow responsible for the continued abuse. That may not have been your intent when typing that, but the message is still the same.

She is seeking emotional refuge in a child born from sexual assault. While I disagree highly with a 13 year old giving birth, I am not about to piss and moan about a rape victim finding solace in SOMETHING after facing such outrageous emotional trauma. If she thinks that abortion is the reason for her continued abuse then I'm fine with her feeling that way and placing the blame there instead of on herself like many rape victims unfortunately do.. It's certainly better than implying that her "failure" to rat out her abuser was the reason she was abused. Because that sounds suspiciously like victim shaming.

[JellyHope]

As much as it bothers me that a rape victim is being trotted out as a pro-life trophy piece, shit like this bothers me more.

"Right - her failure to tell her mother the first time she got pregnant (and therefore had "evidence") or at any point before that when he was abusing her was what protected her pedophile stepfather."

A CHILD BEING RAPED doesn't "fail" to do anything. She was a victim of a sexual predator who likely groomed her into silence. Statements like this imply that the victim is somehow responsible for the continued abuse. That may not have been your intent when typing that, but the message is still the same.

She is seeking emotional refuge in a child born from sexual assault. While I disagree highly with a 13 year old giving birth, I am not about to piss and moan about a rape victim finding solace in SOMETHING after facing such outrageous emotional trauma. If she thinks that abortion is the reason for her continued abuse then I'm fine with her feeling that way and placing the blame there instead of on herself like many rape victims unfortunately do.. It's certainly better than implying that her "failure" to rat out her abuser was the reason she was abused. Because that sounds suspiciously like victim shaming.

I totally read the OP's post in an opposite way. I interpreted it sarcastically, in that the OP feels exactly the same as you.

[Iokaste]

Abortions protects rapists and paedophiles?! Surely if she had gone to a medical facility and had an abortion at 12 or 13 no one would have wondered and began to ask questions? :angry-banghead:

I don't know what the laws are in the US, but here in my little Scandinavian country medical personnel, teachers, day-care providers and other people working in fields where they can be expected to care for children are bound by law to show extra vigilance and can be prosecuted if we fail report suspicions of abuse and neglect.

[Dinorah]

I see her child required intensive and prolonged post-natal care, who should pay for that according to these people who probably are violently against socialized medicine?

[crazyforkate]

While I'm glad that she and her daughter seem to be doing well, there is no way that they should be held up as an "example" to be emulated. Someone in a similar situation does not need that kind of pressure. The risks of having a baby so young are real and significant and seem to just get glossed over by the anti-choice crowd.

[Rowan]

I totally read the OP's post in an opposite way. I interpreted it sarcastically, in that the OP feels exactly the same as you.

Thank you.

[treehugger]

Now that I've had some time to cool off…. I think, the thing that bothers me the most (besides the rape and sexual abuse of a minor) is that people are using the trauma of a 13 year old girl to push an agenda. While I have a huge issue with a child giving birth, I have an even bigger issue with the reasons why this girl in particular chose to keep her baby. Her reasons reek of anti-abortion propaganda.

The first time her stepfather forced her miscarriage she says

He killed my baby. Of all the things that happened to me, this is what haunts me the most. I will never know who my child might have become. My only hope is in the promise I will get to see him or her in heaven when I get there, and Jesus will take care of my baby until then.

The second time she says

I was told by therapists, friends, teachers, family, and even strangers, that it would probably be best if I had an abortion; but I couldn’t. Earlier that year, I had learned in my science class that a child’s DNA comes from both parents, and that meant that this child was also half mine. I also figured that since I was the one who would carry her in MY body for the next several months, that made her mine, not his. I knew from my first pregnancy that he didn’t want me to have the baby. I knew that if I had an abortion, I would be doing just what he wanted, and he would win again. He would not have only killed all of my innocence, he would have killed my daughter

I had my first ultrasound at around 3 months, where I got to see her heart beat, and I fell in love. That was when I decided that I couldn’t give her up for adoption either.

This is a 13 year old talking! She isn't even legally allowed to make her own decisions and yet, the pro-choice crowd is thrilled that she is mature enough to make a decision that not only has HUGE health implications but will also affect her for the rest of her life. This girl was lucky (not the circumstances) but the fact that she had a family who was able to babysit and provide financial support - you know, things that most people really have to struggle with when providing for a baby. It's appalling that instead of giving the young girl biological facts about the development of a fetus and pregnancy, the anti-abortion crowd just throws in "well, it's a baby". Of course no healthy 13 year old is going to want to kill a person. :angry-banghead:

Back to the propaganda.

At the time I had Josey, I believed in God, but I didn’t like Him very much. I couldn’t understand why a loving God would allow me to go through all that I did. It wasn’t until I was 26 that I truly found a relationship with Jesus Christ. A wonderful neighbor of ours showed me how much Jesus loves me. Because He loves us, He gave us free will. My stepfather abused that gift when he abused me. But like Romans 8:28 says, God used something horrible to bring me one of the greatest blessings in my life. Knowing her now, I would go back and do it all again.

Just WTF?

She is one of the many reasons why I know that abortion is wrong. She is a person, and has been since she was conceived. Had I aborted her, this world would have lost an amazing person. My heart breaks for each child that is killed before he or she has a chance to bring someone the same joy that my daughter has brought me.

Apparently, it worked for her. But to assume that it will work for everyone because of that is just incredibly stunted thinking. And I really doubt the wisdom in using a pregnancy (especially for a child) as therapy for abuse and rape!

Using a child's pregnancy as propaganda for the anti-abortion position is just despicable. I have a lot of issues with this whole scenario, but in the end, I can't make other people's choices for them. I abhor people who use the tragedies of someone else to further an agenda - which is exactly what the anti-abortion crowd is doing here.

[Cannelle]

She isn't even legally allowed to make her own decisions and yet, the pro-choice crowd is thrilled that she is mature enough to make a decision that not only has HUGE health implications but will also affect her for the rest of her life.

So they're thrilled that a 13 year old kept the baby, who is a product of rape, and became a 13 year old mother. Somehow she's mature enough and wise enough to make these decisions, in their eyes. But if these people's 13 year old daughter wanted to go on a date with a 13 year old boy (or another 13 year old girl), somehow I doubt they'd let her. Because 13 is WAY too young for that kind of stuff, of course. But not too young to be a parent.

[treehugger]

I totally read the OP's post in an opposite way. I interpreted it sarcastically, in that the OP feels exactly the same as you.

ETA: never mind. I see this wasn't for me.

[Full enough quiver]

I have a problem with the anti choicers using a tragic situation to further their political agenda. This isn't a prop, its a little girl whose childhood was taken from her. I think it's great that she was able to keep her baby if that's what she wanted. Situations like this make me more pro choice than ever. I made the same decision after being date raped at 14. I was determined to keep my baby, I saw her as something wonderful that came out of a bad situation. I don't regret my decision. My daughter is the best thing that has ever happened to me. That does not change the fact that something really traumatic happened to me. My life had to change drastically. Sometimes it was ok, but other times it sucked. I didnt get to go to high school. I had to became an adult overnight. And this girl was two years younger than I was. Anyone who thinks that there's nothing wrong with that situation is a pretty screwed up person. Pro life, my ass.