Ladies of DU: If you were raped, would you want to keep it?

[Deja Q]

Poll question: Ladies of DU: If you were raped, would you want to keep it?

The child?

Some people want abortions.

Others choose to keep it.

What do YOU believe. In your heart.

[merh]

1. There is no way I could answer that.

I have no idea how I would feel.

[Left Is Write]

5. I feel the same way.

I know how I think I would react, but until faced with that set of circumstances, there isn't a way to know for sure.

[merh]

11. exactly

I can intellectualize, rationalize and predict what I would do. But I don't know what I would do, not being in that situation.

[Maddy McCall]

15. The first thing you'd deal with is the trauma of the rape.

The decision on whether or not to have an abortion would be secondary. Does that make sense?

I really don't like this poll. It's kind of intrusive and could cause women of DU who have been raped to feel very uncomfortable. :(

[Left Is Write]

17. It makes perfect sense.

And I agree with you.

[LostinVA]

28. I was thinking that too, Maddy -- I don't like the poll

I've never been raped, but I know people who have been.

And, one thing we don't need on here is a flame war about rape.

[Maddy McCall]

33. Yes. And I know DU women who have been raped.

I hope they avoid GD tonight. :(

[Deja Q]

96. Who said I was starting a flame war?

Though by now it's been turned into one - by people who have yet responded to my original post with the accusation, how odd.

Sorry to even ask questions. Next time I'll just not ask. Damned either way, it seems.

[Maddy McCall]

9. I agree, merh.

I don't know how I would handle it.

[jessicazi]

2. I understand the point of this poll, but

don't forget the third option, adoption. That is the option I personally chose and it shouldn't be overlooked, even if you are trying to prove a point.

[progressivebydesign]

80. and have the rapist sue for parental rights??? no way. n/t

[Coexist]

3. darlin' - I am turning 40 and I sacrificed A LOT to raise

the three I currently have. When I hold a neighbor's baby now, I have to force myself to coo over it.

I love my children to death, but I am not at ALL interested in babies anymore. No diapers, no in-arms, no potty-training, no teaching self-feeding, strollers, mommy-and-me, DONE.. DONE... DONE...

Honey - my husband and I use birth control - and I would have a hard time having another baby of HIS. Forget some damn rapists.

I DO NOT WANT ANOTHER BABY. It is my right to choose to remain a mother of three. The thought of the hard work it takes depresses me now, just thinking about it, I can't imagine how I would feel if I actually got pregnant.

My mother had 3 children in 30 months. I was her third. She told me once that when the doctor told her she was pregnant again (with me) she cried. I don't blame her one bit.

[rocktivity]

4. I wouldn't keep it even if I DID want to.

If abortion weren't an option, I'd put it up for adoption--and do everything possible to get the father's parental rights terminated, too.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Selatius]

6. The woman SHOULD BE FREE TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO

That's the damn point of free choice. People should be allowed to CHOOSE; however, what the authoritarian right wants to do is limit the choice down to one, and frankly, that's not a choice. That's compelled and forced behavior.

It's not okay to have an abortion, but it's okay to use the death penalty. What's the message? You're pro-life until the day you're born?

[Warpy]

7. OK, fess up! How many of those "yes" or "I have to think about it"

were put there by MEN??? Fess up, guys! We know you're out there.

[LostinVA]

14. I was wondering who voted yes myself...

[Cobalt Violet]

18. Me , it was me.

[Maddy McCall]

20. I certainly voted NO...

However, it seems that dealing with the pregnancy would be the minor issue; dealing with the trauma caused by the rape would be the greatest consideration.

I don't know how I'd react to such a situation--or how I'd deal with the trauma. I do know, however, that I would not want to have to carry a pregnancy for nine months, when that pregnancy was the product of an act of violence against me.

[Cobalt Violet]

16. Not mine. I'm a yes.

It would be MY child.

It would be MY choice. I'm very pro choice. I have no children and would definitly keep and love this child.

I would would never want to see that choice taken away from women. I know most would not want the pregnancy and that is their choice. But I thought this poll was about what I would do. And I'm sure I would keep and raise this child.

[Maddy McCall]

22. No one should attack you for that. After all, pro-choice is ABOUT CHOICE.

I can understand your reasons.

[Cobalt Violet]

25. I don't think that anyone should be force to carry any pregnancy.

Raped or not.

I certainly don't think I'm better than anyone else because I would.

We should all have the right to decide what is best for ourselves.

[Maddy McCall]

27. Yes.

I agree with you.

[progressivebydesign]

83. Good reasons, but the rapist would have parental rights, too.

That's the problem. you would spend the next 18 years tied to the person that raped you, (because most rapists are known to their victims). There are other ways to have a baby if you truly wanted one in your life.

[Deja Q]

21. I concur.

This post was meant for the women. For a man to answer the poll invalidates it, and it is not the mens' choice to make.

[seabeyond]

37. i am a female and i said i would give birth, posted below

but good point

[Minnesota Libra]

8. Through rape - HELL NO - I wouldn't want it at all.....nt

[skyblue]

10. Absolutely Not

To me that's f'd up in many ways.

[NastyRiffraff]

12. No way, no how

Even though I'm past bearing children, if I were in that situation I wouldn't want a reminder of a horrible incident. Yes, yes, I know it wouldn't be the child's fault. But I'm afraid I couldn't look at it without remembering, and that's unfair to the child.

[emdee]

13. I'd want to be able to consider all options...

without governmental interference. As the mother of a young daughter, if she were in a compromising position, those included in the discussion of how best to deal with it would not be a politician or a neighbor or a casual acquaintance. It would be no one's business. Whether I am "for" or "against" abortion is beside the point - my position is that it is not the government's business to regulate personal concerns.

I didn't vote - would that come under "I'd have to think about it"? I think that by allowing the conversation to veer into details of the procedure, the actual issue of whether or not it's something for the government to regulate is ignored.

I really still think that since it is election year, it's time to dangle the carrot once more. After Nov 06, the carrot will be put back into the closet until about March of 08. Is that naive?

emdee

[bleedingheart]

19. Not under any circumstances

[cynatnite]

23. A tragic story of a raped woman...

I saw this on TV some years ago and it made me wonder....

Before Roe V Wade, a woman was brutally raped and she became pregnant. She gave up the child for adoption. Years later, the baby grew up to be a troubled young man with an abusive father and had various problems with the law. He hunted for his birth parents and due to a mistake by a clerk, he was handed his actual birth certificate.

He went to see his biological mother and she was traumatized yet again. The young man learned of how he was conceived. She felt bad for the young man, but his presence reminded her again of the rape.

Would this woman had chosen abortion if it had been an option for her?

[emdee]

46. I saw that story...

she made the decision in the hospital after the baby was born and it was obvious that he wasn't her husband's offspring.

It just simply is family business --- just as in the Terri Schiavo case. Family business shouldn't be politicized.

It is so easy to make a judgment without ever having been in the situation ("if anyone ever tries to rob/rape me, why I'll tear him to pieces!!" - In all reality, I probably would not be quite so brave).

Most of the freepers I know agree that if there was a young girl raped they would opt to have the choice available but who put them in charge of evaluating every case and making the decision?

emdee

[Left Is Write]

51. Bravery...

I wasn't so very brave in reality.

I was raped at age seventeen by someone I knew. I kept it a secret for a very long time - I told no one, not my parents, not even close friends, for years.

Twenty years after the fact I wrote a fictional story about the rape, and the ending was much different than what happened in reality. It was my way of being brave after the fact and emotionally standing up for the young girl I had once been.

It's a hard subject.

[emdee]

61. What I don't understand...

is why other people cannot have empathy, sympathy, or some sort of understanding of the fact that if they have never been in the situation, they really don't know what they'd do. I haven't been personally involved with rape, thankfully (and I'm sorry for your experience :hug: ), but I have in my youth stated in no uncertain terms just what I would do if this/that happened to me. I was shown several times over that I usually didn't follow through on my boasts when actually faced with whatever matter it was.

A family member has a very violent ex-boyfriend who is enraged over her recent marriage. If he ever got hold of a woman in our family (he doesn't fight men, you know), this would absolutely need to be an option to have available for discussion. I can think of many true-to-life examples that might warrant a serious family decision such as this.

What bothers me is when I talk with someone who firmly says no, never. I give them a real-life example and they'll say, "well, yeah, in that case, probably" -- makes me furious. Why didn't they actually think it through and come up with true-to-life examples themselves before having a firm opinion?

And the misconceptions of "partial birth" abortion is outrageous. These women are late term who usually are expecting a child and then are told that both will die during birth. Most of the freepers I talk to do not even know that normally this woman planned and expected to have a healthy child. They have been brainwashed into thinking that even this is only for birth control.

emdee

[Th1onein]

24. I would want to keep the baby.

I would consider the baby a gift from God. And, no, I'm not a Christian. I just would like a baby, no matter how it was conceived. And, I don't believe abortion should be legal, just as I don't believe we should have capital punishment.

[LostinVA]

29. You have a right to decide to keep a child, but you do NOT

Have a right to tell someone else what to do with their body. I do have a problem with you wishing to impose that onto other women.

Why would you wish abortion to be illegal, if it's not a religious issue for you?

[Maddy McCall]

39. Prediction: Some ill-founded justification based on equating...

abortion to the death penalty. That "all life" should be preserved. Oh, the logic. :banghead:

[Coexist]

43. but Snowflake Babies are gifts from God for the childless:

http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/snowflake_baby/

<snip>
But guess what? Typically clinics will transfer up to four embryos to the uterus for possible implantation. And three out of four of those embryos die without developing into a fetus. So every time people try to have a snowflake baby, they’re killing three other “babies.”

...hypocrisy, thy name is Right to Life

[progressivebydesign]

87. If christians say everything is God's will WHY do they do invitro?

I mean.. if God wanted them to have a baby, they'd get pregnant the way it happens in the bible. I don't recall test tubes and syringes in the bible when they talked of people having babies. Guess their god supports whatever is convenient for them.

[cynatnite]

31. Women should have self-determination over their own bodies...

Period.

[Maddy McCall]

36. I've seen your posts before on a wide range of topics.

Your contrarian position as well as your justification for it does not surprise me.

[Epiphany4z]

26. I don't know

but the choice should be mine.

[Mandate My Ass]

30. Enforced pregnancy after rape would just validate the dehumanization

that the rapist initiated. It's not about sex or procreation, it's about dehumanizing a female and taking her power and her self-determination away from her. It's so fucking sick and cruel and misogynistic that only a total sociopath would dare render an opinion about it, let alone a decree.

Pregnancy is about choosing to be a parent, choosing to bring life after a willing act of procreation whether or not procreation was the intent. After a rape that is just not remotely possible, IMHO.

[omega minimo]

32. Please don't trivialize this issue and make a game out of it

Thank you.

[seabeyond]

34. it wouldnt bother me at all to keep a rape baby, but then i am 44

mature and progressed enough to know that it matters not. it is in the raising of a baby, and love will get us a long way. the baby has nothing to do with the event. on the other hand, as i say, i am old, i am financially secure and i would get support from all and more important accpetance from all as the baby would

would i at a young age, i do not know. i cannot judge. would i suggest another who is raped they must have the baby, absolutely not.

[Maddy McCall]

41. I'm 40. I don't think the revulsion to the product of an act of violence

has anything to do with wealth, age, or maturity level.

Some people could detach the child from the act in which it was conceived. Some people could not.

[Coexist]

45. I agree - soon to be 40 here.

I am post #3.

On edit: I was very touched by the scene in Rob Roy, when his wife doesn't know if the baby is her husband's or her rapist's and chooses to keep it. But I knew even then I couldn't.

[Freedom_Aflaim]

53. of course he got to kill the rapist

:)

[Mandate My Ass]

47. Exactly. PTSD is a common consequence of rape

and takes an enormous toll on the psyche and the body. One of the most common side effects is substance abuse. So let's imagine a woman trying to deal with the guilt, shame and horror of having been dehumanized and add the multiple stressors of pregnancy on top of that. One just cannot rise above the dehumanization of rape no matter what one thinks beforehand. It destroys you in so many ways, foreseen and not.

[seabeyond]

56. i beg to differ. i have been raped twice. i do know what i could do

:)

[Mandate My Ass]

58. Congratulations

I have PTSD from a rape and I know I am totally incapable of even imagining carrying a pregnancy to term after such a trauma.

You are a superior being obviously. :hi:

[seabeyond]

64. wow. so you are suggesting people must not differ from you

well, that isnt what i am saying and i think it is pretty obvious. some people would be able to, others would not. i could only talk about my experience, i would never presume to judge anothers or how they may deal with it. that would be wrong. yet,..... you feel you can with me. well, again, go for it. i dont take it personally so really has no effect on me. maybe that is the same with rape. i didnt take it personally. he was the pig, i did nothing wrong, wasnt indicitive of who i am as a person. said everything about who he was.

just as you being a snot to me really has nothing to do with me

i am sorry you are still in the experience. and i hope the best for you

[Maddy McCall]

69. I wonder if your hostility toward another rape victim...

has anything to do with your two past experiences. You insensitivy is astonishing.

What a cutting, hostile response to the previous poster. Really disgusting.

[seabeyond]

74. me.... i am talking about my personal expereince, and answered a

question honestly, and i am the hostile person......

i wasnt a snot to the poster. the poster was a snot to me. and i said coooool

adn said i was sorry she was still in pain, and hope she gets better

but good of you to come on and attack me along with the other.

this is just getting silly

what was cutting and hostile

i say i am raped twice, she says congratulations

[Mandate My Ass]

75. Wow, somebody who shared a common trauma thinks I'm a snot

I'm no longer in the experience thank goodness, and thank you for your obviously genuine concern, but when it happened I was a basket case. What I can imagine myself doing now is light years away from what I was capable of then. That's where I'm coming from.

I have sympathy and empathy for anybody who went through or will go through what I did. It didn't harden me as it obviously did to you. So sorry.

[Maddy McCall]

81. Hugs to you.

You emerge from this irrelevent GD skirmish as more honest person.

You are a survivor of a horrific, traumatic assault. You are to be commended for that.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

(I won't respond again in this exchange. Just know that I think that you, who admitted to and dealt with your trauma, are an admirably strong person.)

[seabeyond]

84. now you call me dishonest, and my surviving a horrific traumatic

experience is for not. like you arent dissing. listen to you

[Maddy McCall]

85. Hugs to you, too, for surviving your horrific trauma.

At least you now admit that it was a horrific trauma--which you didn't do in your other post.

:hug:

My last post to you in this thread. Do know that I sincerely wish you healing and recovery.

[seabeyond]

88. no thank you. nothing from you

this was just probably the ugliest misinterpretation of my words any poster on du has done to me in all the years i have been. shame on you

[seabeyond]

82. congratualtions

and that was???????

sincere. but i did like the questions you presented to another poster. and in my posts those are exactly the things i initially addressed, that i dont know if then i could have done??? dont know. i am only oging off of today, and having already experienced. now does it mean an absolute, not at all. would never know what circumstance could come in to cause a shift

if the question is should a female be made to carry baby to term,..... i think there would be a 100% no

that wasnt the question

[Cobalt Violet]

63. I'm a survior too, and I feel very similar to you about the pregnancy.

I'm dead sure I could and would have the child. I wouldn't expect the same of anyone else though.

[Mandate My Ass]

70. Honest question

You have the distance of retrospect now but could you be so dead sure had you never had the experience, the recovery period, and the wisdom of age afterward? Could you face it with the same sang-froid if you were a young woman dealing with the immediate aftermath of probably the most traumatic event of your lifetime? Is there any wiggle room for doubt here or do we have to be dead sure one way or the other when dealing with such a devastating, life-altering event?

[Cobalt Violet]

95. I'm not sure about that at all.

I have no clue. I'm just answering this poll question about what I would do now. I can't answer the question as if I have never been raped in the past, or as if I was much younger, or as if I all ready had all the mouths I could feed. I can only answer the question according to my circumstances as they are now, with my past being what it was.

I was too young to even get pregnant the first time I was raped. Another time I was old enough and I really don't know what my choice would've been back then. I'm sorry I can't answer that. I'm not dead sure about that at all.

I don't think that everyone need be on the same page here. Some people will handel things different and that choice needs to be theirs to make.

[Mandate My Ass]

98. Thank you for your candid and respectful answers

I'm so sorry this happened to you and as I said earlier, anybody who has or will go through this has my deepest sympathy and my support no matter what they choose in the aftermath.

[seabeyond]

59. financial security does matter in the consideration in bringing a

child into the world. knowing that finance wont be an issue is a huge factor. age for me seems to possibly be a factor because i have experienced raising children so i know what it is about, instead of being young and having never done ergo, more fear, but further, i wont have to deal with embarrassment or emotional trauma because over time and in maturity i just dont react in that manner like i did at a younger age.

but i agree, some people can do it, some people cannot. and this isnt a thread about if i can do it ALL must be able to do it.

[Maddy McCall]

66. LOL. You talk about it as if the woman had any input into the...

"consideration."

Yes, in normal circumstances when a couple is deciding whether or not to conceive, then I'd agree that age and income are considerations. Those "considerations" are trumped in cases or rape, though, because the woman's primary concern is overcoming the trauma, and because she had no say in the intercourse that produced the pregnancy. And, as I said above, most women would not be able to overcome the revulsion of the assault that the pregnancy would represent to them.

A rape-induced pregnancy is not a normal situation. No woman should be made to feel like a weakling because she chooses to terminate the pregnancy instead of to consider whether or not she is mature or wealthy enough to support the product of the rape.

[seabeyond]

73. the consideration is whether to have an abortion or carry to term

i would think that is obvious.

but you are working really hard to create an argument here arent you. you really dont want people to honestly tell you they could have a rape baby and you are fighting it hard.

the consideration is abortion or carry to term

finance is part of that consideration in abortion or carry to term. you keep adding wealthy, which i have never used, that can imply a little negativity to me here, right, that is why you keep saying wealthy even though i have yet to use the word myself. being financially secure is not the same as wealthy. being able to financially have a baby is not the same as wealthy

and never, have i implied a woman should feel a weakling if they cannot/willnot/ refuse to carry full term. i have empahtically not only said it HAS to be personal choice, but at a younger age i dont know that i could have done it. being where i am today, i could do it, i would do it

or...... must i conform to make all feel better in their argument and sya, you are right, i couldnt do it.

[Maddy McCall]

77. BZZZZZ. Wrong. Look at my response to Cobalt Violet above.

But she didn't come across as an insensitive, condescending ninny. She didn't use her rape to make her opinion more valid than that of another rape victim's. For you to insinuate that the way the other poster responded indicated some form of weakness in her really tells more about how you dealt with your rape(s) than how she chooses to. She's not in denial; she's working through her trauma.

I really want no argument with you. I do think, though, that you should treat other rape victims with the same sensitivity or respect that you expect.

Now, out of respect for your position as a rape victim (since that is what you are using to validate your opinion in this thread), I will abstain from responding to you again, because I couldn't sleep well tonight knowing that I had mistreated another human who had already been victimized as you have.

[seabeyond]

86. how insulting. i never talked weakness. i never judged another

not a single of my word did that. i talked only my expereince. and how i would have felt at a younger age. how dare you preceive my words in a fashion, that arent accurate, then you dump,....

i have done nothing to any other rape victim. but because i didnt say what you wanted, you sure did

[Left Is Write]

79. I think part of the problem here...

Is that you used the words "mature and progressed enough..." to indicate your emotional ability to separate the potential child from the act of rape in which it was conceived.

This carries the implication that women who cannot make that separation are not mature or well-progressed, and that is what is causing others to bristle.

You gave your age and level of maturity as factors for consideration in the decision. There are plenty of mature women at or near your age who could not make the choice you say you would make. It has nothing to do with their maturity level.

Reading your additional posts, I'm understanding you to mean that you are comparing your own maturity level now to your own maturity level in years past, rather than making a statement in general. Unfortunately, the implication has already been made that women who are unable to separate the pregnancy from the rape are just not mature enough, even if you didn't mean to make that implication.



edited to correct faulty code.

[Maddy McCall]

90. Perfect synopsis.

[seabeyond]

94. dont you just feel all cozy

in your attacks and insults to me. os justified. go sleep well, .....

[seabeyond]

92. thank you for posting htis. maybe people came to this perception

a little to easily since the whole post was talking about me and my experience and not a single bit judging others. not to mention i clearly stated i would never have same expectation or demand or want or judging of another

they did all this pretty easily

thank you for the post. i better understand

i owe no apology. i am just plain disgusted

[spacelady]

35. I would not go through with the pregnancy. I cannot judge anyone

else's decisions. Our bodies and our decisions as women are between ourselves, our beliefs, and our physicians.

[shanti]

38. i would definitely not keep it

i would have an abortion.

[DanCa]

40. Becareful with the poll results.

At lot of anti choice men may be influencing it. Just FYI -Danny.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DemonGoddess]

44. I voted no.

I already have 5 children, and my tubes are tied because I don't wish to HAVE any more. But you see, that's the whole point here I think. The choice and the option must be left with the affected woman. It needs to be HER choice to make. Not some bunch of politicians or pro-lifers telling her what she should and should not do with her body.

By the way, what the many posters are saying about the insensitivity of this thread/poll I COMPLETELY agree with.

[spacelady]

48. HypnoToad, I think you asked an honest question and many women

CHOSE to answer. In these times, it is a valid poll. Those who find it too intrusive thank goodness have the CHOICE not to participate.

[Zookeeper]

49. The idea of genetics influencing a person's personality...

seems to be having a resurgence based on some recent studies. Frankly, I would have some concerns about bringing the child of a rapist into the world, even if I gave it up for adoption. Logical or not, it would feel risky to me.

Also, what if the rapist was not a stranger, or was a stranger but was identified for prosecution? There would be a very good chance that the rapist could claim parental rights, or even end up with custody of the child.

I respect ANY decision a woman would make in that situation (except giving the rapist father custody).

[splat]

50. Not if the "father" had parental rights, was in my life for 18 years nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

52. Hypothetically speaking

I'd want the chance to decide privately with my doctor, based on my own mental health at the time what I would do. I don't want that decision made for me by someone who doesn't know me or the circumstances surrounding the rape. How they can presume to know what is going to be right for each victim is arrogant and heartless.

[hlthe2b]

54. Would I WANT to keep it, or Would I keep it? Two different ????

hmmmm

[ourbluenation]

55. If I were raped? No way in hades. eom

[Coexist]

57. apropos of nothing, parental rights issues

might lead a woman to feel victimized all over again

http://roguepundit.typepad.com/roguepundit/2004/10/rapists_rights_.html
<snip>
Finally, during the final days of the recent session, the bill was wrapped up in another and expanded, so that the parental rights of convicted first- and second-degree rapists are automatically terminated. Convicted rapists must now petition the court to regain their parental rights.

"Basically, it reverses things," Ellis said. "Previously, it was the woman who had to spend the money and try to get the paperwork signed. Now the onus is off the victim."

I wish the woman's accent hadn't mattered...this shouldn't be legal anywhere. Why in the heck does a rapist even deserve rights to petition the court to regain parental rights?



...how can a rapist have parental rights? That is astounding. Even more astounding is how the article begins. Please read it.

[JI7]

60. probably not , but can't say for sure

i just hope if i ever did have to deal with it the law would be such that i would be able to make the decision.

[kestrel91316]

62. Nobody gets to force me to carry a child against my wishes,

especially if it's Satan's (rapist's) spawn.

[nonconformist]

65. I voted no. nt

[Name removed]

67. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

71. ...

Alert SHOULD BE your friend. The originating post is not only intrusive, it's insensitive and condescending.

And, by the way, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Haven't seen you on DU in a long while.

[Deja Q]

91. You want intrusive? Complain to the elected officials...

I asked a level, unbiased question during a RELEVANT period of time. Elected officials are ramming something down everybody's throat and I thought it was fair to ask for real peoples' opinions.

Sorry to offend or be so audacious as to ask a question, what a horrible crime I had done. x(

So, why do you think it was condescending?

(note that I am asking and not in an angry huff. That alone should suggest I am not being condescending.)


BTW: I'll keep looking for your first direct response to me... so far you're conversing with everyone else... is the wrong person using the word "condescending"?

[Name removed]

93. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

99. Actually, the post wasn't aggressive.

It just insinuated that you posted this very controversial topic and then didn't participate in the discussion, but instead sat back with the popcorn.

And you haven't participated in this topic, other than to justify posting it. Maybe you should participate in your own thread. :shrug:

[Deja Q]

101. Excuse me, I AUTHORED this post which created the thread. BTW,

I am a male - as the other posters had said, a male responding would invalidate. :eyes:

Seems I'm damned either way, especially when I'm referred to as "the original poster"...

:think:

You can put me on 'ignore' now.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

68. Probably adoption, but there is no way of knowing unless you're

in the situation. If the baby was a mixed race, the chance of finding him/her a good home might be iffy, so then are you bringing a child in to the world who will be raised in orphanages and foster homes? And please, no remarks about racism, because we all know darn well that this happens to kids who are of a mixed race.

[Dorian Gray]

72. I would like to say yes

because, personally, for me, abortion is the wrong decision. However, I have never suffered through the pain of a rape, and I don't know how I would react unless it has happened to me. So, though I don't think that I would abort the child, I could not know for sure unless it happened to me. I voted for "I would need to think about it."

[Cleita]

76. Since we select our men for the qualities we would like our

children to inherit, there is no way I would want a child with someone I despised for what he did to me.

[progressivebydesign]

78. you forgot: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND? on your poll.

yeah.. like women would actually want to keep the fruit of a monster that raped them. Boggles the mind...

[Deja Q]

100. Excuse me, but I tried to write the damn thing level-headedly.

No emotion one way or the other.

Looks like I fucked up big time... so big that nobody has told me to my face I offended them, though they've told everyone else in thread responses... (which really speaks more volumes I care to talk about right now...)

[radio4progressives]

89. I had this experience, and i had an abortion - it was no question

did not reqret it.

[Fleshdancer]

97. No.

I owe it to the child I already have to take care of myself. Healing from a violent act of torture falls in the category of taking care of myself...something I really don't think I could do if the physical consequences of that torture continued for 10 months.

I know the fundies love to get hysterical over an implanted zygote but I refuse to believe that I am somehow worth less than that. My well-being may not be important to them, but it is to me and my family. I will not allow them to make me feel guilty for this.

[in_cog_ni_to]

102. Hell no. n/t

[LeftCoast]

103. Locking

Per request by HypnoToad