I traveled to Silsbee, Texas five times in the past six months, with conservative blogger Brandon Darby, to…
**Trigger Warning** Rape apologists, rape naysayers, rape deniers
Mr. What About The Men
“The real problem here is all these false rape accusations that are destroying our society! 90 million men are falsely accused of rape every second! A woman just has to…
Please understand that whenever you identify yourself as being “pro-choice,” or whenever you make that exception for rape, what that really translates into is you being able to stand before me, look me in the eye, and say to me, “I think your mother should have been able to abort you.” That’s a pretty powerful statement. I would never say anything like that to someone. I would say never to someone, “If I had my way, you’d be dead right now.” But that is the reality with which I live. I challenge anyone to describe for me how it’s not. It’s not like people say, “Oh well, I‘m pro-choice except for that little window of opportunity in 1968/69, so that you, Rebecca, could have been born.” No — this is the ruthless reality of that position, and I can tell you that it hurts and it’s mean. But I know that most people don’t put a face to this issue. For them, it’s just a concept — a quick cliche, and they sweep it under the rug and forget about it. I do hope that, as a child of rape, I can help to put a face, a voice, and a story to this issue.
This is one of the most egotistical statements I have ever seen. Apparently being pro-choice is the equivalent of walking up to this woman and saying, “If I had my way, you’d be dead right now” (because being pro-choice means that every pregnancy that results from rape MUST be aborted!). I would actually like to see Rebecca Kiessling talk somewhere so that when she started this part of her spiel, I could stand up and say, “Yes, your mother should have been able to abort you.” Everyone’s mother should have had the choice to abort them or carry them to term! My mother did have the choice to abort me. She chose not to. If she had chosen to get an abortion, then I’m sure that would have been the right choice for her.
And what’s even worse, if you read this website, is that her birth mother, a rape victim, desperately wanted an abortion and wasn’t able to access one (although she tried). This horrible woman cannot even feel compassion for the mother who was forced to carry her to term after she had been raped.
What Rebecca Kiessling fails to grasp (because she is seemingly delusional) or maybe just doesn’t care to consider is the toll that a forced pregnancy can take on a rape victim. Pregnancy is hard. It’s dangerous. Many rape victims do choose to go through with their pregnancies and either keep their children or give them up for adoption. But for others, the pregnancy is a continued violation. Rape is a crime of power, during which the victim cannot control what is happening to them, to their body. Forcing rape victims to continue pregnancies they would otherwise have aborted only perpetuates the loss of control that began with the rape.
ETA: She calls her children “second generation abortion survivors.” I can’t even…
A question for the men
If a particular man cannot be trusted to not rape/assault/harass someone, is he really someone we want in a position of power? To ‘serve and protect’ us? To carry a firearm? To represent us as a nation and as a people? To even leave his house?
It’s not just a woman’s issue.
Men, do you really, really, really LIKE being thought of as brutes who think only with their hormones and sex drive? Do you like being thought of a morons who just can’t help yourself if you see something you find attractive? Do you like being thought of as too stupid to recognize a refusal? Do you like being thought of as abusive tyrants?
Do you like being lumped in with the rapists?
Then why do you make these excuses?
Why do you accept, condone, or even praise this behavior?
Tell me, honestly, which would you rather have in a sex partner? Passive, resigned acceptance? An inability or reluctance to say no? Or an enthusiastic yes?
Seriously, the question should never be, ‘did she give a clear enough no?’. The question should always be, ‘well, did she say yes?’
Tell me, men, why do you accept anything less from your sons, brothers, and friends?
