And it is, indeed, premised upon the idea that she is not as guilty as someone who merely uses abortion as a form of birth control: after all, the sex was not consensual, the conception was not a "risk run"; and the psychological pressure involved in carrying the child to term as a symbol of the attack would be, for most, a special torture....
Sorry, no. She is every bit as guilty because the fetus is every bit as innocent and every bit as dead. We may choose to forgive her or to show compassion for her given the circumstances, but her deed is the same. The correct moral act in those circumstances, IMO, is to deliver and give up for adoption that innocent baby who is in that position through no fault of his own just as the woman is in that position through no fault of her own. If the fetus is a person, that is, entitled to life as are you and I.
You can use the self defense argument with a pregnancy that threatens the mother's life. If the woman is so destroyed by her experience that her life is in danger, I would agree with you. I imagine that may be the situation in a few cases. In almost all cases, however, carrying the fetus to term is simply part of the recovery process from the assault just as being in traction in a hospital may be part of the recovery process or having reconstructive surgery or being treated for STD. The recovery process from a sexual assault may be very lengthy and may vary from case to case. In some cases, it includes producing a baby.
You keep focusing on the fault of the woman and on punishing based on the degree of fault--crime and punishment. I understand and appreciate that approach. However, it's entirely different from the approach that a fetus is a person, an innocent person, with a right to life. They're two different approaches. If you take the right to life approach, then the woman is culpable. If you take the crime and punishment approach, then she is not, nor is the fetus a person with the right to life. Can't have it both ways.
Personally, I take the libertarian approach and leave her to her best judgment, but that's another matter... |
