By Shilpa Esther Trivedi
Recently the Republican Party approved a platform calling for a ban on abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.
These same politicians have repeatedly made statements showing a deeply flawed understanding of rape. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., made the false claim that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant due to biological processes. Republican Senate candidate Tom Smith equated the experience of his daughter conceiving out of wedlock to that of a father whose child becomes pregnant as a result of rape. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who cosponsored a bill with Akin that would attempt to redefine rape so that only victims of “forcible rape” could obtain federally funded abortions, called rape just another “method of conception.”
It’s because of claims like these that the reproductive health care community has focused on the many reasons a rape victim deserves the option of a safe and legal abortion, without judgment.
In response to Akin’s claim, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a statement, saying, “Each year in the U.S., 10,000–15,000 abortions occur among women whose pregnancies are a result of reported rape or incest.” The ACOG also declared: “An unknown number of pregnancies resulting from rape are carried to term.”
Data suggests that more pregnancies are carried to term than are aborted, as a result of women choosing to have their child or as a result of continued attempts to restrict access to emergency contraception and abortion.
Many women have publicly spoken out about their decisions to keep children resulting from rape, often citing the support they received in doing so from groups like Planned Parenthood (which Romney and Ryan plan to defund if elected). This dialogue highlights the fact that women need options and that every story is unique.
For those who carry a fetus resulting from rape to term, a scary and disturbing fact has emerged.
In 31 states there currently is no law to prevent men who father a child through rape from suing for custody or visitation rights as any other father can. Of the states that do have laws to prevent this, some states only offer protection if the victim is a minor or, in at least one state, the rapist’s child.
Other states have legislation requiring rape victims who conceive to ask the rapist for child support prior to requesting government assistance. Of the states that have exceptions to this, at least five only waive the process for instances of “forcible rape.”
Oregon currently has restrictions that may prevent a rapist from obtaining custody or visitation rights as a direct result of a 2010 paper from a victim who experienced this. However, this law only applies if there is a rape conviction resulting from the incident that resulted in the victim’s pregnancy. Washington has nothing to prevent this problem.
Approximately 9 out of 100 rapes are prosecuted, and not all lead to convictions, so what might happen should a rapist try to obtain visitation or custody rights in Oregon is still unclear.
Many other factors could be involved, especially in a case where the rapist and victim have a prior association. A victim might, at the very least, have to spend additional time and resources in court facing her rapist.
This is unacceptable. Rape victims already face far too much trauma when going through our legal system.
Just as women who choose abortion deserve the very best care, so do those who choose to keep and parent a child. Being harassed through the court system or having to coparent with a rapist is incredible.
The Republican Party should take time off from shaming rape victims and instead find a way to support them in at least some of the choices they make—beginning by correcting issues like this one.