The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection, but that protection does not come easily for those of us conceived in rape or incest. We are grateful to those elected officials like Congressman Steve King who are willing to defend our right to life even in the face of cruelty. It’s one thing for us to defend our own lives because it personally affects us, but I’m in awe when someone like King champions our cause when he doesn’t have that kind of stake in it.
I’m the President of Save The 1, a global pro-life organization with a network of almost 900 of us conceived in rape like me and mothers who became pregnant by rape. There is strength in numbers, but sometimes words can still be painful. It’s been 32 years since I learned how I was conceived, and I’ve been a pro-life speaker and attorney for nearly 25 years, putting myself out there knowing I’ll be ridiculed. Nevertheless, I persist in order to save others like me who are just as worthy of life and the protection I received four years prior to Roe v Wade.
As the author of the no exceptions federal Heartbeat Bill, with more co-sponsors than any other pro-life legislation in Congress, Representative Steve King has been the strongest advocate on Capitol Hill for the unborn and for those conceived in rape. He refuses to add exceptions, despite consistent pressure from congressional Republican leadership. Speaking at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, Iowa on August 14th, Congressman King was asked a question about the Heartbeat Bill’s lack of exceptions and he explained:
I’ve got 174 people who say that they don’t want exceptions for rape and incest because they understand that it is not the baby’s fault, to abort the baby, because of the sin of the father, and maybe sometimes the sin of the mother too. And so I refused to do that.
King has remained strong despite pundits like Sean Hannity who called the child conceived in rape “an evil seed,” telling Lila Rose in his radio interview with her, “Doesn’t the Bible say that the sins of the father will be passed on for like the 3rd or 4th generation?” Actually, the Bible says you’re not to punish the child for the sins of the father. Yet, this is the type of prejudice we face every day.
Having heard this rhetoric, and knowing how my people group is so callously demonized, Congressman King clearly was looking to empathize with us by suggesting that others’ family tree lines may not be so pure, including his own. As a result, the media has pounced and is insinuating ridiculous things like Congressman King believes humanity owes itself to rape and incest – as if he’s promoting or defending sexual assault!
I’ve received the same kind of criticism – with others calling me a “rape trophy,” “rape apologist,” and saying that I’m “tainting the gene pool” by my existence. They’ve told me that if I had any sympathy at all for my birthmom, I would have killed myself a long time ago.
I recently posted an image of me with my three daughters, holding our signs, “Conceived in rape, I love my life,” and “My mom was conceived in rape, I love our lives.” More than 4,000 abortion advocates descended upon my Facebook page accusing me and my daughters of promoting rape – the same accusations they’re now waging against the Congressman.
They’re saying that in order to value the lives of those conceived in rape or incest, we must necessarily be pro-rape. I explain to rational people — because I don’t waste my time on those who just hate for the thrill of it – that you can be pro-law enforcement and not pro-crime, even though it’s true that without crime, there’d be no law enforcement! It’s the same with supporting the life of the child conceived in rape. You’re not justifying rape when you acknowledge that the child’s life has value. None of us support a right to be created, only a right not to be killed once you are alive and in existence.
The most famous abolitionist in U.S. history, Frederick Douglass, was conceived when his mother was raped by a slave master – just 10 years after the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, when many slave masters were raping their slaves in order to perpetuate slavery post-embargo. Would anyone suggest Douglass must have been pro-rape or pro-slavery in order for him to have valued his life or in order for any of us to admire him as a person? You should be able to see how absurd that is!
But today’s abortion industry would have offered up the solution of abortion to the plight of women like Frederick Douglass’ mother, instead of focusing on ending slavery and rape, and then punishing the slave master!
This is the problem today – many want to punish the innocent child instead of the rapist. We never see anyone advocating that a woman should be able to hire someone to kill her rapist – only her innocent child. According to the U.S. Supreme Court case of Coker v Georgia, rapists don’t deserve the death penalty, and in the subsequent case of Kennedy v Louisiana, even for child molesters, the Court said it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence them to death. Yet, so many advocate for the innocent child conceived in rape to be put to death for the rapist’s crimes!
At a Storm Lake town hall meeting August 17th, Congressman King reiterated his steadfast defense of children conceived in rape or incest:
I’m defending innocent, unborn human life. I’m the author of the heartbeat bill at the national level, and also at the state level. I did not allow exceptions for rape and incest in that bill because, those babies that are born as a product of those activities, are as precious as you are, or any of my grandchildren are. They’re all created in God’s image too. I don’t want to stigmatize those people in this country, or the world for that matter, if they were the product of rape or incest.
Peggy Jenkins, a Save The 1 pro-life speaker who resides in Camanche, Iowa, is the former Executive Director of The Pregnancy Center in Clinton and is grateful for Congressman King’s defense of those conceived in rape. She always considered herself to be pro-life, but was once privately “on the fence” about cases of rape or incest. That is, until she discovered the truth about herself, and she’s written a book about her story, entitled “Always Good Enough.”
Peggy writes this in support of the Congressman:
As a nurse, I was on the fence with exceptions because I wanted to be sympathetic to the victim of rape or incest. But then I learned from my maternal half-sister that our mother had been raped. And so, I had been pro-life with exceptions for rape and incest, until I met myself.
This was a turning point in my pro-life advocacy. The reality of my own conception made me take a hard look at this issue and I remember shaking my head thinking, “Why would the way a person is conceived have any impact on the baby’s right to life?” We should not punish the child for the sin of the father! I look at my grandchildren and realize that none of them would be here if I’d been aborted, if I’d been killed.
We need to all get to a place where we can put ourselves in the position of the most vulnerable and most targeted – children conceived in rape or incest, which is what Congressman Steve King was clearly trying to do. It is compassionate to want to relate to the child conceived in rape and say, “I’m no different.” I wish everyone could recognize that ALL human life has value and there should be no exception / no compromise EVER!
I appreciate Congressman Steve King’s consistent support of those of us who were conceived in rape or incest, and for having the courage to take a stance on an issue that has become so political and divisive. I truly am appalled at the level of flippancy involved – especially with the media — when we are talking about the life of a child, an innocent baby who has no voice. Congressman King is correct in saying that it is morally wrong to suggest that the way a child was conceived should determine whether they live or die. They should not pay for the sins of the father.
Also from Save The 1, Tricia Boss from Cedar Rapids, Iowa shares her story in support of Congressman King:
Let me just say that my story is unique as I gave birth to a child who was conceived by incest – my brother’s child. I was surviving a horrible childhood. When my daughter was born, I wasn’t allowed to see her – I wasn’t even allowed to watch the birth at all. However, on the third day that I was in the hospital, a nurse-angel popped her head in the door of my room and asked me if I wanted to hold MY baby. I almost said no, as I knew I wasn’t allowed to see her, but I said yes. I was able to hold her for a half an hour. She was perfect. That was October of 1975. I didn’t see her again until 1994. What a day that was!
I have no photos of her while in the hospital. This photo of her is at three months old, when the adoption became final. I received it years later from the adoption agency when I requested information, and perhaps you can imagine how precious it is to me.
I understand that people want to reduce a woman’s pain after she has gotten pregnant through rape or incest, by allowing abortions. I get that. When talking with my birthdaughter, it is very painful for me, and always a reminder of what I went through during my childhood years, but I would rather suffer that pain than deal with the pain of taking the lives of two innocent babies. You see, I also later had two abortions during my marriage. Those are decisions I have regretted for many years.
As for those two babies we lost, they were each a decision between me and my husband on the advice of a minister who we trusted for “wise” counsel on our financial and marriage issues. With the first one, I was put to sleep, so I had no idea what was going on. With the second one, I was awake – fully awake and aware. I was devastated afterwards for insisting on another abortion. We both deeply regret those decisions and we both wonder about the two children who we lost.
Back in the day, there wasn’t much information about abortion, nor was there much education on what happened during an abortion. Congressman King, thank you for speaking up about abortion and your willingness to protect those conceived in rape or incest, as well as the mothers like me.
For more information, please visit: www.savethe1.com
