Abortion has always been a controversial topic, no matter where a person goes, especially after laws have been suggested to make abortion illegal, all together. The only problem is that it is easy for these congressmen and men, in general, to say women should carry a child to term and either put it up for adoption or raise the child.

Rape. This word is something no one likes to hear, much less talk about, but in this case, it is something that needs to be considered when talking about abortion. While only about five percent of rape victims end up becoming pregnant, it still results in about 32,000 pregnancies a year. This is a high enough number that it needs to be a discussion point when it comes to talking about abortion and the stances taken for or against it.

The part I look at closely is the mental health of these potential mothers after something so traumatic occurs. Just from rape and sexual assault alone, women are more likely to be depressed and suffer PTSD. In a 2001 study done by the British Crime Survey, 52 percent of “women who had been subjected to serious assault including rape” had emotional problems and 5 percent attempted suicide.

These alone are scary statistics to see. While around 50 percent of pregnancies are aborted, due to rape, there are still enough cases to see what can happen when a victim of rape decides to raise their child. The reason I also look at this is to show how raising a child of rape can affect the child and the mother.

According to slate.com, “approximately 12,000 children are born as the result of rape, every year, and the majority of them are raised by their birth mothers.” On top of that, there are very few places that have “laws restricting visitation and custody privileges of rapists,” according to an article from The Georgetown Law Journal, titled “Giving Birth to a Rapist’s Child.” Also mentioned in the article, because of constantly being in contact with her rapist, the mother has barely any chance to get over her rape.

Seems to me that, even if a woman decides to have a child (many make sure that she knows what she “should do”) under these laws, she is being punished for being raped. If she would know her attacker or he would pursue getting to know the child, she has to face him and potentially let him be apart of her and the child’s lives.

So, in short, this is one of the many reasons I am pro-choice. If a woman has no way of mentally handling a pregnancy, potentially being tied to her rapist for life and never getting over the assault, I see no reason why a woman should not have an option for abortion, especially in this situation.

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