How can you be against abortion in ALL cases? What about rape? Could you really force a woman to bear a baby when she was raped

“Love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul,

         and with all your MIND”--Matt 22:37

And the corollary that pro-choicers rightly use if someone says, "I am against abortion, except in the case of rape and incest" is this very valid question:  "Then how can you state that life begins at conception, if you believe that it's okay to kill this life in the case of rape and incest?  You must not really believe that life begins at conception."

So it seems that the pro-choicers have us between a rock and a hard place.  If we say we're against abortion in the case of rape, then we look like incompassionate monsters with no empathy towards a woman who has experienced a horrific event in her life, wanting to force her to endure more suffering.   If we say we're against abortion, but make an exception for rape, then they will point out (correctly) the inconsistency of our position.

The Catholic answer is to not take the position that we're against abortion, except in the case of rape and incest.  For the smart pro-choicer will rightly point out our inconsistency.  Either it's a human life or it's not.

Now, as for the objection that we have no empathy for a woman who has been victimized by rape, I offer this example I recently heard on Catholic Answers Live:

Let's say that there is a woman who is married, has relations with her husband, and is later that night raped by a stranger and becomes pregnant.

She seeks testing to see whether the baby is her husbands, or the product of the rape.

Testing reveals that it is indeed a life conceived with her husband, so she continues the pregnancy and gives birth.

Later, the laboratory reveals that an error was made:  the baby is actually the child of the rapist.  

Do you believe that it's permissible for the woman to kill this baby, as it is actually the product of the rapist?  

Of course, no moral person would say that now that we know that the baby was conceived in rape that it's permissible to kill this baby.  No one could accuse us of being heartless monsters for saying that it's immoral to kill this baby, even if its father was a rapist.

Question:  why would it be ok to kill the fetus because it was conceived in rape before it's born, but not after?

Answer:  it's not!  

With this example we see the pro-life position:  a life already exists, even if it was conceived in rape.  And it's never permissible to kill an innocent human life, no matter what the circumstances of  its conception.

For more in-depth study visit these websites:

Catholics Come Home

Catholic Bible online

Catechism of the Catholic Church online

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" - 1 Peter 3:15