Sources for rape victims?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Krasnaya_Kometa
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Krasnaya_Kometa

Guest
I am the author of a website called the Omni-Web. I write articles on Catholic issues, with somewhat of a political talk show-type slant to them. I am currently writing a response to the issue of abortion, specifically, “What happens if a girl is raped and becomes pregnant?”. I worked out a response to this issue, and am going to offer some sources for Catholic counseling for cases like these. Before I post the article, though, it would help if I actually had some sources. 😛

Does anyone know of any sources I can reccomend? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Also, if you have a website or blog and would like to exchange links, just let me know! TIA!
 
I wish I could help you. I have heard the excuse in the case of women being raped…and being a rape survivor myself it just did not fly with me. I knew directly after I was raped that I would never have aborted…it was almost immediately that I thought “Oh dear God…what if I’m pregnant”…and the answer was a quick “I guess I’ll have a baby” That was a really scarey month, waiting for my period.

I did research and found out that it is very unlikely that a rape survivor would become pregnant because the stress during the situation is not condusive to fertilization. It does happen but the number was really really low.
 
40.png
Lillith:
I did research and found out that it is very unlikely that a rape survivor would become pregnant because the stress during the situation is not condusive to fertilization. It does happen but the number was really really low.
Click to expand...
Oh, interesting. Do you mind if I use that in my response as well? It’s a very good point.
 
Of coarse! I only wish I had the exact number…it was less than 1% I’ll look around and see if I can find it.
 
I remember learning on this forum, actually, that the Church is fine with taking the morning after pill directly after a rape occurs to prevent fertilization. I think the idea is that there was no mutual consent involved in trying to create a baby, so preventing one is okay to do. But I think there is a window of time after the rape because an abortafacient is never okay…which is what it would become if taken after conception.
 
This is a statistic given by “concerned women of America” website

cwfa.org/articles/3110/CWA/life/

HARD CASES:

Statistically Negligible percentages of abortions due to rape, incest, cases which involve the deformity of the child or endanger the life of the mother:

RAPE: .06%

INCEST: 1%

DEFORMITY: 2-4%

THREAT TO MOTHER’S LIFE: .06-1%

The total of all “hard cases” combined account for only 2-3, at most 5, percent of all abortion cases.

If we believe that life is indeed sacred, it is inconsistent that the “quick fix” of abortion could ever be acceptable. Concessions for rape and incest suggest that no good can possibly come from bearing this child. But the circumstances of a child’s conception do not have to dictate the remainder of his life. Julie Makimaa was conceived by an act of violent rape. She is both sympathetic toward her mother’s suffering and proud of her courage and generosity. Julie founded Fortress International, an organization that defends rape and incest victims who have become pregnant and the children conceived by those acts. With David Reardon, she has co-authored a book that responds to the argument favoring abortion in assault pregnancies. “It doesn’t matter how I began,” says Julie. “What matters is who I will become.”
 
Thanks, Lillith! I really appreciate it.
40.png
Princess_Abby:
I remember learning on this forum, actually, that the Church is fine with taking the morning after pill directly after a rape occurs to prevent fertilization. I think the idea is that there was no mutual consent involved in trying to create a baby, so preventing one is okay to do. But I think there is a window of time after the rape because an abortafacient is never okay…which is what it would become if taken after conception.
Click to expand...
I’m not so sure about that. Conception occurs as little as 30 minutes after insemination, and anti-ovulation drugs, which the morning after pill contains, take considerably longer to supress a possible ovulation - and it won’t supress an ovulation that has already occured.

The only way it could work correctly is if you were raped on, say, Saturday, and your body was programmed to ovulate on Tuesday. The pill can possibly supress Tuesday’s ovulation and possibly prevent you from getting pregnant. This only happens in a small percentage of cases. If it doesn’t work that way then either you wouldn’t have concieved in the first place, or it will have killed the baby. Not good.
 
I believe there is some research by a cancer institute in england that found women who had abortions were 200% more likely to have uterine and cervical cancer. I don’t have the exact statistics but I know many other cancers were significantly more likely in a woman who has had an abortion.
 
May I make a suggestion? Why not PM or email the question to Father Serpa here at Catholic Answers. His response would be a definited one and there would be no wiggle room. Also, as a source for rape victims, you might think about using Catholic Therapists.com as a source for sources (how’s THAT for going around in circles?).

Another approach, and it would be a round-a-bout one but it is an idea, would be to talk to someone in your parish that is involved in the Rachel project. Many women who discovered they were pregnant after they were raped and chose to have an abortion were shocked to find themselves suffering the after affects just as much as those women who had abortions when their relations had been consensual…and yet the ‘big lie’ is that abortion does not hurt women.

Also, below my signature is a link to my blog. It is my own thoughts and musings but it is mine and I am a Catholic.
 
Krasnaya Kometa:
Thanks, Lillith! I really appreciate it.

I’m not so sure about that. Conception occurs as little as 30 minutes after insemination, and anti-ovulation drugs, which the morning after pill contains, take considerably longer to supress a possible ovulation - and it won’t supress an ovulation that has already occured.

The only way it could work correctly is if you were raped on, say, Saturday, and your body was programmed to ovulate on Tuesday. The pill can possibly supress Tuesday’s ovulation and possibly prevent you from getting pregnant. This only happens in a small percentage of cases. If it doesn’t work that way then either you wouldn’t have concieved in the first place, or it will have killed the baby. Not good.
Click to expand...
You might do a search on this forum and read the actual thread which could explain the situation better. I think the idea is that if a woman is raped, she take the pill within a few hours–not days. I was very surprised to find out about it as well, but it makes sense.
 
40.png
Princess_Abby:
I remember learning on this forum, actually, that the Church is fine with taking the morning after pill directly after a rape occurs to prevent fertilization. I think the idea is that there was no mutual consent involved in trying to create a baby, so preventing one is okay to do. But I think there is a window of time after the rape because an abortafacient is never okay…which is what it would become if taken after conception.
Click to expand...
Was this someone’s opinion/inference or is there a Church document saying this? That makes a huge difference.
 
Make no mistake about it: the morning after pill does not prevent conception. It prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg. That is, the egg and the sperm have joined and that fusion has created an immortal soul. The morning after pill causes an abortion. This is an intended design, in fact the only reason for the morning after pill: to stop a pregnancy by forced shedding of the uterine wall prematurely. No implantation can result because the artificially stripped uterus is unable to support new life. The Catholic Church does not and never will approve of this sort of “emergency contraception” because it is always a chemical abortion if the woman is pregnant when she takes the pill, even though the baby is only hours or days old and still in the fallopian tubes. One cannot speculate about whether the sperm of a rapist will reach an egg or where the victim is in her cycle or what the chances are that the woman might get pregnant: this is an abortion technique, not contraceptive measure. It is a grave error to state that the Church is “fine” with this abortifacient approach to sexual violence.
 
Krasnaya Kometa:
I am the author of a website called the Omni-Web. I write articles on Catholic issues, with somewhat of a political talk show-type slant to them. I am currently writing a response to the issue of abortion, specifically, “What happens if a girl is raped and becomes pregnant?”. I worked out a response to this issue, and am going to offer some sources for Catholic counseling for cases like these. Before I post the article, though, it would help if I actually had some sources. 😛

Does anyone know of any sources I can reccomend? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Also, if you have a website or blog and would like to exchange links, just let me know! TIA!
Click to expand...
You can get good information from several pro-life sources:

www.all.org
www.omsoul.org

Also, contact a local crisis pregnancy center and discuss their rape counseling program.

The Catholic positions is obviously quite clear regarding abortion-- it is never permissable.

I’d also suggest a book by Randy Alcorn called Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice questions. It’s great and covers this topic.
 
40.png
lifeisbeautiful:
Was this someone’s opinion/inference or is there a Church document saying this? That makes a huge difference.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can find the document on the US Bishop’s website, it is their directive to health care workers.

Please note it is important to emphasize this is ONLY as a preventative for ovulation and may never be taken when there is a possibility conception has occurred.
 
40.png
1ke:
You can get good information from several pro-life sources:

www.all.org
www.omsoul.org
www.priestsforlife.org

Also, contact a local crisis pregnancy center and discuss their rape counseling program.

The Catholic positions is obviously quite clear regarding abortion-- it is never permissable.

I’d also suggest a book by Randy Alcorn called Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice questions. It’s great and covers this topic.
Click to expand...
 
Here is more information about the morning after pill (MAP) from the American Life League showing that there are three ways that the MAP works:

Emergency contraception:
The morning-after pill

What is it?

Emergency contraception (also known as the morning-after pill) is a high dosage of the birth control pill. It is recommended to be used after sexual intercourse, over a period of 72 hours, to achieve the goal of preventing (or ending) pregnancy. There are three different ways birth control pills are currently being promoted for this use: progesterone alone, estrogen alone, or both of these artificial steroids together.

These are the same steroids found in the typical birth control pill.

Where did this idea come from?

The idea of emergency contraception—or a morning-after pill—is based on a theory. Under this theory, if a woman has sexual intercourse and fears she may be pregnant, she can take large doses of birth control pills. If in fact the woman is pregnant when she takes these birth control pills, the high dosage could act to kill her preborn child—a living human being. The only “emergency” in this case is the woman’s fear of being pregnant.

There are at least two formulations of the birth control pill that are being marketed as “emergency contraceptives.” Also, double doses (or more) of existing birth control pills are also prescribed (or self- administered) as “emergency contraception.” Though no testing has been done to confirm the safety of these large doses of birth control pills for women (and very limited testing has been done on the specifically marketed “morning-after” pills), the Food and Drug Administration has approved this use.

How do emergency contraception/morning-after pills work?

The emergency contraceptive/morning-after pill has three possible ways in which it can work (as does the regular birth control pill):

Ovulation is inhibited, meaning the egg will not be released;
The normal menstrual cycle is altered, delaying ovulation; or
It can irritate the lining of the uterus so that if the first and second actions fail, and the woman does become pregnant, the human being created will die before he or she can actually attach to the lining of the uterus.
In other words, if the third action occurs, her body rejects the living human embryo, and the child will die. This result is a chemical abortion. (Abortion is an act of direct killing that takes the life of a living preborn human being—a life that begins at fertilization.)

Is it safe?

Here are some of the side effects:

nausea
vomiting
infertility
breast tenderness
ectopic pregnancy (can be life threatening)
blood clot formation
Emergency contraception also offers no protection against sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS.
 
Here’s another source:

Postcoital birth control pills…. Ovarian hormones (estrogen) taken in large doses within 72 hours after sexual intercourse usually prevent implantation of the blastocyst, probably by altering tubal motility, interfering with corpus luteum function, or causing abnormal changes in the endometrium. These hormones prevent implantation, not fertilization. Consequently, they should not be called contraceptive pills. Conception occurs but the blastocyst does not implant. It would be more appropriate to call them “contraimplantation pills.” Because the term abortion refers to a premature stoppage of a pregnancy, the term abortion could be applied to such an early termination of pregnancy.

Finally, the Church isn’t in favor of blocking ovulation either. That’s birth control. That’s against the Church’s teachings as well.
 
:crying:
40.png
Cupofkindness:
Is it safe? (morning after pill)

Here are some of the side effects:

nausea
vomiting
infertility
breast tenderness
ectopic pregnancy (can be life threatening)
blood clot formation
Emergency contraception also offers no protection against sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS.
Click to expand...
Death…

I just wanted to add, as there was a woman who died from hemorrhage in Canada, and not because of an etopic pregnancy either

:crying:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top