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8/02/2006
Rape and the Abortion Question BY BOB ELLIS The most frequent objection to South Dakota’s proposed ban on most abortions, HB 1215, is that it lacks an exception for rape. Supporters of the ban are usually quick to point out that the bill, approved by a bipartisan majority of the South Dakota legislature 
While this would allow a woman who was raped to use emergency contraception within a few days after the rape to prevent a pregnancy, it would not allow the broader exception sought by some which would allow surgical and other abortions much later in the pregnancy. Is the absence of such an exception reasonable? Should the children conceived from rape be looked at differently than those conceived otherwise? Megan Barnett of Aberdeen doesn’t think so. Megan was a 19-year old working on plans for the rest of her life when she was raped in 2004, subsequently becoming pregnant from the rapist. Megan was spending a July evening with her cousin in Sioux Falls when the incident occurred. She and her cousin had invited a number of people to her cousin’s house for a get-together, but the only person who showed up Doug Easterday, the young man who several months later was convicted of raping Megan. Megan says that when her cousin drove her to the emergency room, medical personnel offered her emergency contraception, but she declined even though she already had a feeling she was pregnant because of her Catholic beliefs that it would be wrong. Megan found out about two weeks later that she was indeed pregnant, first with a home pregnancy test and later confirmed at the doctor’s office. “At first I was angry that all my plans that I had were suddenly up in the air,” Megan said. “I felt cheated. I was never the kind of person to run with guys, get drunk and stuff like that.” She said that she was upset that even though she had tried to live a good life, this had happened to her. She was angry about all the decisions she would suddenly have to make, and what people might think of her as an unwed mother. Yet Megan says she never regretted not taking the emergency contraception. “When I felt the baby, it really became real for me,” she said. “I hadn’t given it [abortion] much thought before this happened,” Megan said. “I grew up in small community and didn't know anyone who had an abortion or anything like that, and I just didn't think about it much. But my religion classes taught me that it was the wrong decision.” Megan said that even though more than one person counseled her that abortion would be acceptable for her, that no one would blame her if she did, still it was never an option for her. “Yeah, it’s somebody else’s baby,” she responded. “But it’s my baby, too.” She says her family was very supportive throughout everything, reassuring her that she had nothing to be ashamed of and not pressuring her into any decisions. She now has a beautiful two-year old daughter named Maria that she loves very much. When asked if looking at Maria ever makes her think of her rapist, Megan replied, “I’ve never had that problem at all. I just think of her as my baby. I don’t think of her as having anything to do with him.” Easterday gave up his parental rights during the legal process for his crime and he is now serving a six-year sentence for raping Megan, though he could be out far short of that for good behavior. Megan said that while she doesn’t want Easterday to have anything to do with Maria and doesn't believe he’ll give them any problems, she does feel bad for Maria’s fraternal grandparents, that they won’t be able to be involved in their grandchild’s life. Megan has a message for women who may find themselves in a situation like hers: “The most important thing would be to not think about all the facts and legal rights, but think about how the child is no different than a child not conceived in rape. “Every mother has that obligation to fight for the life that's in her. Each day that life grows and after nine months you have a baby; if you have an abortion, you don't have anything. It's a decision to have life or not to have life. Is it right for me to hurt someone who can’t speak for themselves or just go with the flow? “I've heard from people who have had abortions and all the pain they went thorough. I say to people, ‘You can have that baby. It makes your life so much more meaningful!’” Megan says she will definitely tell Maria about her father one day, but wants to make sure she’s old enough to understand. Dr. Donald Oliver, a Rapid City pediatrician who is board certified with the National Board of Medical Examiners and American Board of Pediatrics, testified before the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion last year. According to the task force report, he made this statement regarding rape and incest:
According to a 1990 Wirthlin poll discussed in National Review, when asked, the average person guessed the number of abortions performed for rape and incest at 21%. The actual figure is considerably less. The Louisiana Department of Health compiled statistics over a 14-year period and found that the justification for 99.12% of abortions in that state were "mother's mental health." Mother's physical health made up .75% of all abortions, fetal deformity another .09%, and rape/incest at .04%. Most experts place the number of rapes resulting in a pregnancy at about 1%. The reason rape-caused pregnancies are so low is that about one-third of rape victims are not of childbearing age. Approximately 40% are using contraception at the time of their rape, and many others are permanently sterile for a variety of reasons; some rapists are also sterile. Further, a woman is only biologically capable of becoming pregnant a few days each month. Many women who do become pregnant due to a rape elect not to abort the child, as evidenced by Megan’s decision. A study entitled "Psychological Aspects of Abortion" found that 76% of women who became pregnant through rape carried their children to term.
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