Why do Christians believe than a woman who got newly raped shouldn't abort her unborn child?

Question

Aren't Christians against rapists?
And wouldn't any Christian agree that a child shouldn't have to grow up knowing it wasn't born out of love but an evil act of sick hatred?
I just don't understand devout Christians opinions on this!

PS: I have nothing against Christians & I know that a woman has to be of a certain age to get an abortion because for example if she was 15 it would wreck her insides and mess up her puberty cycle or something.

Answer 1

It isn't the baby's fault.

I wouldn't condemn a rape victim for wanting an abortion, but I wouldn't encourage it, either.

I have a friend who was date raped when she was 16. Her first and only sexual experience and she didn't get to be a wililng participant, but got pregnant. Unfair on so many levels. Her mother made her get an abortion and 20 years later she still can't remember anything about her life in the years surrounding the rape, except that she feels profound guilt about the abortion.


Abortion doesn't help rape victims. Therapy helps rape victims. If she'd received competent counseling and wanted an abortion, I'd leave that in God's hands. I can understand that a woman might feel that her rapist was violating her for 9 months after the rape if it resulted in pregnancy.

I would hold out the hope that a woman could find some peace in carrying an innocent child to term and giving that innocent child to a loving family. Maybe an infertile couple - and finding some meaning or sense of triumph in spite of her suffering.

Abortion doesn't cure rape. But sometimes it seems like we, as a culture, think it does. If a woman eliminates the product of the rape, the rape is over.

For most women that's not true. I think all rape should be reported and proscecuted to the full extent of the law. I think all rape victims should receive competent counseling. If those victims are pregnant, they should have counseling before (and after) deciding to abort. And I don't mean counseling to guilt them out of it, but counseling to help them heal.

Answer 2

The answer depends on a few things. The first and largest is is a unborn child truly alive (more so then an egg or sperm). If yes then the answer still depends on which moral theory you follow. Kant would wrong is wrong and damned be the outcome. Utilitarianism would weigh in the parties outcomes based on the choices available. Would both child and mother be happy, or miserable? Most likely the answer for the former theory is to not abort and choose between keeping the child and giving up for adoption. But this is only in general, and there can be a case where utilitarianism would consider abortion as the most ethically choice. Think on that.

Answer 3

I know that such situations are heartbreaking and these questions are difficult ones. Rapists are despicable and when a woman is not only raped but impregnated, it is a horror to sorrowful to contemplate.

But when the Bible speaks of abortion as a sin - it does not qualify it. Nowhere does it say it's alright to abort because the woman was impregnated as a result of rape. The crux of the matter is how does God feel about it? Being obedient to God is sometimes easy. But what do Christians do when it is hard to be obedient?

Yes, Christians are against rapists. But Christians are also against sin. There is no room in scripture for a woman to abort because of an unwanted pregnancy. In the final analysis, pregnancy by rape is an unwanted pregnancy. Many children are born out of love yet they were not the product of rape. Again, the Bible does not qualify by saying "only the babies that are wanted" or "only the babies that are born from love."

Hannah J Paul

Answer 4

There have been at least two good answers posted: 1) Going to the ER immediately afterwards can prevent pregnancy, and 2) why punish the baby for what happened -- there's always adoption. Here's a third:

I read a great story in Glamour magazine about ~3 years ago. They interviewed 10-15 young adults who were concieved because of rape! Some were adopted, some not. But either way, they were all thankful to be alive, in spite of how they were concieved. They were very grateful to their mothers for going through the pregnancy.

Answer 5

Well, here is my dilemma. The person ultimately being punished is the unborn child. The child is not responsible for the conditions of which it was created. And yes, I do know what it is liked to be forced into sex against my consent and if a child had resulted from that, I would still have gone through with the pregnancy, because the child was not the criminal.

Abortion does not ultimately take into account the feelings of the unborn child. It only takes into account what is in the best interests of the mother. Not every child is born in good circumstances, but to deny that child life because it is not optimal circumstances is not fair to that child. Should that individual be punished because it was born in a non-loving home and be terminated?

Answer 6

I don't know how you can use the argument "aren't Christians against rapists". What does that have to do with this issue? The abortion is to spite the rapist? Kill the child because of what the rapist did? How does this help your argument?

Many people use the rape argument to support abortions. While pregnancy sometimes does occur due to rape, the chances of become pregnant froma rape are not as high as it seems. It would still have to be the right timing, etc.

Also, is a child who is the product of rape really the issue? If it's not a rape, then is abortion still ok? Then you are in support of abortion, period, and the rape issue is not your point, it is just a red herring debate.

Answer 7

Christians should be and are against rape, but let`s draw the line here, Christians see all life as precious even the most vile people, and that all have the right to life, to a Christian an unborn child is a jewel beyond price while so many unbelievers see the unborn as a by- product of their carnal lust, rape is evil but abortion is intrinsically evil.

Answer 8

A fetus is considered a life regardless of its stage in development. So technically its considered murder. There is a province which has a law which allows a child to sue its own mother if she brought harm to it while she was pregnant such as smoked or drank or even took medications which are prescribed or got into a car accident because an unborn child at any stage of development in the womb is considered a life with rights yet in that same province abortion is legal... figure that one out.

Answer 9

Romans 8:28 says that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to his purpose. Genesis 50:20 says tha what man intended for evil, god meant for Good. I have heard a mentor say that there are no accidental children, there are accidental parents, but God has a plan for every life. While rape is a very traumatic thing, one i grow so easily and extremely angered with, a child is always a blessing. Even something horrible happened, somerthing wonderful came from it, a new and beautiful life that God can use for His glory. Even though you were violated, you have the cahnce to train a life that can make this world better.

Answer 10

I used to think this is the only consistent stand a pro-lifer could take on this issue.

The pro-choice argument (which I believe is correct) is that there is no reason to believe the thing inside the woman is a soul, and thus there is no harm in getting rid of it.

The pro-life argument is that there is a soul that is murdered, and thus it would be wrong to kill it no matter what.


However, this argument does not appear to hold up when examined closely. To reason by analogy, suppose a world-famous cellist is in an accident and can only survive if hooked up to you for nine months, possibly causing you to miss lots of work and risk losing your health. Few if any people would say you are obligated to lose nine months of your life to save the life of the cellist

While this analogy is somewhat problematic, I think it at least illustrates that it's not *obviously* why a pro-lifer would not be able to make exceptions for cases of rape.