by MIA FREEDMAN
What’s the difference between a scented candle and an unwanted pregnancy? There isn’t one! They’re both gifts and should be accepted with smiling gratitude.
When Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum was asked earlier this year how he’d feel if his daughter was raped and became pregnant, he insisted he wouldn’t want her to have an abortion and would instead encourage her to see the pregnancy as ‘a gift’.
Last week, Richard Mourdock, the Tea Party-backed Republican Senate candidate in Indiana, declared during a debate that he was against abortion even in the event of rape because after much thought he “came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
This word is often used by people opposed to abortion and at first, it seems like a reasonable one. Babies are a gift, aren’t they? Many new parents use that exact word, especially if they’ve struggled with infertility.
But what about the ones who don’t choose – or want – to be pregnant?
A candle and an unwanted pregnancy do have this in common; neither ‘gifts’ were chosen by the recipient. And that’s where the similarities end. Because lives aren’t plunged into poverty and extreme emotional, mental and physical hardship by a candle that smells like figs. Journalist Caitlin Moran masterfully argues against the idea of unwanted pregnancies being ‘gifts’ in a recent column where she says:
Top Comments
I can really understand why many people refer to rape as a special case for abortion - such as when people that say "I'm pro-life...except for abortion". A baby conceived by rape is not responsible for the crime, his or her life is not "less sacred" than any other life, the baby is still the child of the victim's and abortion does not "un-do" the rape, or make it any better for the victim. However, I DO think that a rape which results in a pregnancy should be considered for sentencing purposes.
It's a problem when people use abortion as their means of contraception. Hear stories of people who work in abortion clinics, and they see the same people come back time and again.
Another thing that bothers me is that as much as women spout it is their right cos it's their body (though really a baby has it's own body) many women who have abortions are forced by their boyfriend or parents. I can't imagine the guilt and shame that would follow.