Far From the Tree

by Solomon, Andrew

  “The effect of the Bourne case was to authorise abortion to prevent damage to a woman’s physical or mental health, a test which became interpreted more and more liberally. The influence of the judge’s comments extended far afield, to Commonwealth countries such as Australia. Aleck Bourne eventually became appalled at the results of his case and became a founder member of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.”

  1252 Abortion committees are discussed in Leslie J. Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867–1973 (1997), pages 174–75.

  1253 The quotation from the pathologizing, victim-blaming social worker (“She became a passive object . . .”) occurs on page 133 of Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race before Roe vs. Wade (2000), citing to Marion K. Sanders, “Social work: A profession chases its tail,” Harper’s, March 1957. In full: “She would not talk about the father of the baby. She had gone out with him to amuse herself. He was tender and sweet and did not make sexual demands on her except in a laughing casual way. Then one night he became very passionate and she could not defend herself. She became a passive object and could not say ‘no.’ Here we see a girl who having lost parental love, continues to search for love and her primary motivation became centered in getting her dependent needs met. She took the man’s sexual interest as love and an opportunity to be loved by somebody.”

  1254 Early proposals to legalize abortion are discussed in Leslie J. Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867–1973 (1997), pages 220–21.

  1255 Coerced relinquishment and maternity homes are central subjects of Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Rape before Roe v. Wade (2000) and Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States (2001).

  1256 The quotation from Kathleen Leahy Koch (“I was just someone who had to have a baby for some worthy family . . .”) occurs on page 73 of Rickie Solinger, Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States (2001).

  1257 The quotation from Kay Ball (“I was so ashamed and beaten down emotionally . . .”) occurs on page 75 of Rickie Solinger, Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States (2001).

  1258 Post-Roe abortion politics are explored in William Saletan, “Electoral politics and abortion: Narrowing the message,” in Abortion Wars: A Half Century of Struggle, 1950–2000, edited by Rickie Solinger (1998); and Saletan’s book Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War (2003) (results of the poll appear on page 163).

  1259 Idaho governor Cecil D. Andrus is quoted in Timothy Egan, “Idaho governor vetoes measure intended to test abortion ruling,” New York Times, March 31, 1990. In full: “‘This law would force the woman to compound the tragedy of rape,’ Mr. Andrus said. Referring to the seven-day reporting requirement for victims of rape, he said, ‘On the eighth day, she ceases to be the victim and becomes a criminal.’”

  1260 See William Saletan, Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War (2003). From page 168: “As television cameras and an overflow crowd looked on, [Louisiana state representative Woody] Jenkins explained how abortion for ‘birth control’ tempted young men and women to sin:

  “‘[L]ook at what has happened since 1973. Teenage pregnancy has skyrocketed. Illegitimacy has skyrocketed. Welfare has skyrocketed. . . . Abortion has become birth control of last resort. [Teenagers] knew that if all else went wrong and there was a pregnancy, they could get an abortion. The young boys, the young males, have known that and so have the young females, and so they have been much more lax and much more liberal in their sexual practices. . . . They’re having teenage pregnancies, and they’re having illegitimate children and they’re putting children on welfare.’”

  From 1261–73: “Allusions to chastity and wantonness littered the hearing. Cross and another senator accused pro-choice witnesses of ‘advocating abortion as a method of birth control.’ Cross challenged the extent of a woman’s authority over her body, protesting that if she were granted a right to abortion, she would have to be granted ‘a right to prostitute her body’ and perhaps to use illegal drugs. Another lawmaker agreed: ‘We do not allow women to prostitute themselves. We do not allow them to be illegal drug users. There is no absolute freedom to use one’s body as you so desire.’

  “This line of reasoning only made the rape exception more compelling. ‘I’m pro-life, but I believe there ought to be some exceptions,’ said a Methodist minister. ‘Why should we burden a young mother with an unwanted child if it wasn’t the result of her own misconduct. She’s blameless, so why should she be punished?’ One senator bluntly said he wanted to ban most abortions but would vote against the bill because it failed to exempt rape and incest. Another distinguished abortion in rape cases from abortion for birth control: ‘I do not believe that we should use abortion as a form of contraceptive. . . . But I do think that there are certain circumstances where a woman should have the right, the opportunity to make a decision: Life of the mother . . . Rape and incest . . . I cannot in good conscience say to a woman that if you are raped by some thug on the streets, you must have that thug’s baby.’”

  See also Michael Baruzzini, “Justice or comfort?: Conservatives and the rape exceptions,” Catholic Lane, June 16, 2011, at http://catholiclane.com/justice-or-comfort-conservatives-and-the-rape-exception (“The defense of the rape exception often stems from arguments based on a notion of ‘responsibility.’ Abortion is wrong, in this view, because those who choose to engage in sexual intercourse have the obligation to accept the consequences of their free choices. One cannot choose sex, and then violently attempt to undo that choice through abortion; therefore abortion is ordinarily wrong. Rape, however, is different because the victim did not choose her situation. The pregnancy that results from rape is itself the effect of a violent offense. Therefore, the logic goes, it is acceptable, though unfortunate, that this intrusion be remedied by recourse to abortion.”); and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, “The law of chastity,” Gospel Principles (2012), at http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-49,00.html (“If a child is conceived by those who break the law of chastity, they may be tempted to commit another abominable sin: abortion. There is seldom any excuse for abortion. The only exceptions are when pregnancy has resulted from incest or rape; the life or health of the woman is in jeopardy in the opinion of competent medical authority; or the fetus is known, by competent medical authority, to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.” So the “sin” of abortion is forgiven if the woman has not willfully committed the sin of being unchaste.).

  1262 The quotation from the antiabortion advocate (“It would be wrong . . . Two wrongs do not make a right”) comes from Bob Ellis, “South Dakota abortion task force studies rape exceptions,” Dakota Voice, January 20, 2006.

  1263 Megan Barnett states, “My child is not the exception . . .” in the film I Love My Baby Who Was Conceived by Rape (2006) Barnett was widely quoted throughout the 2006 election season; see, e.g., David Crary, “Campaign 2006: South Dakota nears abortion ban vote: Opposing groups flood the state for November 7 referendum,” Houston Chronicle, October 9, 2006; Angela Mettler, “Speakers rally on issues,” Aberdeen American News, October 18, 2006; and Judy Peres, “In South Dakota, abortion the issue: Referendum on ban roils low-key state,” Chicago Tribune, October 21, 2006..

  1264 The quotation from John C. Willke (“The woman has been subjected to an ugly trauma”) comes from Bob Ellis, “South Dakota abortion task force studies rape exceptions,” Dakota Voice, January 20, 2006.

  1265 Rebecca Kiessling’s statement “I am not a product of rape, but a child of God” comes from her pamphlet, “Conceived in Rape: A Story of Hope.” The sarcastic reply occurs on the January 26, 2009, entry of the First World Problems blog, at http://ivytheadve
nture.livejournal.com/2009/01/26/.

  1266 The quotation from Joan Raphael-Leff (“an internal foreigner . . .”) occurs on page 129 of her paper “Psychotherapy and pregnancy,” Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology 8, no. 2 (April 1990). It has been condensed. In full: “Finally, in common with other ‘wrong’ impregnators like an unloved partner, an irresponsible man or ‘substitute’ for someone else, all of these mean that the woman feels she has growing inside her part of a hateful or distasteful Other. Unless this feeling can be resolved, the foetus who takes on these characteristics, is liable to remain an internal foreigner, barely tolerated or in constant danger of expulsion, and the baby will emerge part-stranger likely to be ostracised or punished.”

  1267 The quotation from the rape survivor who characterized her child as “a living, breathing torture mechanism” occurs on page 183 of William Saletan, Bearing Right (2003), citing to the Minutes of the Louisiana Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, May 29, 1991.

  1268 The mother who described the experience of rape-related pregnancy as “entrapment beyond description” is quoted on page 133 of David Finkelhor and Kersti Yllö, License to Rape (1985).

  1269 Joan Kemp describes abortion as a solution “that is imposed by a society that places too much importance on a male lineage” in her article “Abortion: The second rape,” Sisterlife, Winter 1990.

  1270 Denise Kalasky describes her abortion experience in her article “Accomplices in incest,” Post-Abortion Review 2, no. 1 (Winter 1993).

  1271 David C. Reardon is author of “Rape, incest and abortion: Searching beyond the myths,” Post-Abortion Review 2, no. 1 (Winter 1994); and coeditor with Julie Makimaa and Amy Sobie of the anthology Victims and Victors: Speaking Out about Their Pregnancies, Abortions, and Children Resulting from Sexual Assault (2000). The Elliott Institute website: http://www.afterabortion.info.

  1272 David Mall and Walter F. Watts first posited the existence of a “postabortion syndrome” in their book, The Psychological Aspects of Abortion (1979), a concept further promoted by Joyce Arthur in “Psychological aftereffects of abortion: The rest of the story,” Humanist 57, no. 2 (March–April 1997). Controversy over the legitimacy of PAS is discussed in Emily Bazelon, “Is there a post-abortion syndrome?,” New York Times Magazine, January 21, 2007.

  1273 David Reardon’s characterization of abortion as “medical rape” occurs in his article “Rape, incest and abortion: Searching beyond the myths,” Post-Abortion Review 2, no. 1 (Winter 1994).

  1274 The quotation from Sandra Mahkorn (“can be lessened with proper support”) occurs on page 67 of her chapter, “Pregnancy and sexual assault,” in The Psychological Aspects of Abortion, edited by David Mall and Walter F. Watts (1979).

  1275 The quotation from George E. Maloof (“Incestuous pregnancy offers a ray of generosity to the world . . .”) occurs on page 98 of his chapter, “The consequences of incest: Giving and taking life,” in The Psychological Aspects of Abortion, edited by David Mall and Walter F. Watts (1979).

  1276 Statistics pertaining to the frequent discovery of rape-related pregnancy in the second trimester come from Melissa M. Holmes et al., “Rape-related pregnancy: Estimates and descriptive characteristics from a national sample of women,” American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 175, no. 2 (August 1996).

  1277 The quotation from Susan Brison (“Trauma not only haunts the conscious and unconscious mind . . .”) occurs on page x of the introduction to her book Aftermath: Violence and the Remaking of a Self (2002).

  1278 Vera Folnegovic´-Šmalc’s description of suicidality among rape victims comes from her chapter, “Psychiatric aspects of the rapes in the war against the republics of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina,” in Mass Rape: The War against Women in Bosnia-Herzegovina, edited by Andrea Stiglmayer, translated by Marion Faber (1994), pages 174–79.

  1279 This passage is based on my interview with Melinda Stephenson in 2007 and subsequent communications. All names in this passage are pseudonyms.

  1280 For a journalistic discussion of evolutionary theories of rape, see Erica Goode, “What provokes a rapist to rape?,” New York Times, January 15, 2000.

  1281 The quotation from Jonathan A. Gottschall and Tiffani A. Gottschall occurs on page 10 of their paper “Are per-incident rape-pregnancy rates higher than per-incident consensual pregnancy rates?,” Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective 14, no. 1 (March 1, 2003). In full: “We propose, based on this growing body of research, that all men—rapists and non-rapists—have the capacity to ‘read’ fecundity cues and pursue the most attractive/fecund women that they can. However, since rapists circumvent the problem of female choice, while non-rapists must confront it, it is plausible that the average instance of rape occurs with a more attractive/fecund woman than the average instance of consensual intercourse. Thus we propose that rapists target victims not only on the basis of age but based on a whole complement of physical and behavioral signals indicating the victim’s capacity to become pregnant and successfully carry a child to term.”

  1282 See Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer, A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion (2000).

  1283 The quotation from Catharine MacKinnon (“Forced pregnancy is familiar . . .”) occurs on page 74 of her chapter “Turning rape into pornography: Postmodern genocide,” in Mass Rape: The War against Women in Bosnia-Herzegovina, edited by Andrea Stiglmayer, translated by Marion Faber (1994). It has been condensed. In full: “The rapes in the Serbian war of aggression against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia are to everyday rape what the Holocaust was to everyday anti-Semitism: both like it and not like it at all, both contiguous with it and a whole new departure, a unique atrocity yet also a pinnacle moment in something that goes on all the time. As it does in this war, ethnic rape happens every day. As it is in this war, prostitution is forced on women every day; what is a brothel but a captive setting for organized serial rape? Forced pregnancy is familiar, too, beginning in rape and proceeding through the denial of abortions; this occurred during slavery and still happens to women who cannot afford abortions—who in the United States are disproportionately African-American or Latina.”

  1284 Susan Brownmiller’s statement “Men began to rape women when they discovered that sexual intercourse led to pregnancy” occurs on page 314 of Against Our Will (1975).

  1285 Mary P. Koss is cited in Erica Goode, “What provokes a rapist to rape? Scientists debate notion of an evolutionary drive,” New York Times, January 15, 2000.

  1286 The finding that women who have been raped before the age of eighteen are twice as likely as those who have not to be revictimized in adulthood is reported on page 39 of Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence against Women: Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey (2000).

  1287 Interview with Lori Michaels, Clarabel Michaels, Ringo Smythe, and Bobby Michaels in 2007. All names in this section are pseudonyms.

  1288 The mother’s statement “My son will never know the details of his conception” occurred in a public discussion, “Children born of rape,” on the Adoption.com Forums, archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20070508215233/http://forums.adoption.com/single-parenting/128755-children-born-rape.html.

  1289 The quotation from Holly van Gulden about secret-keeping comes from her 1998 article “Talking with children about difficult history,” at http://www.family-source.com/cache/731451/idx/0.

  1290 The quotation from the man relieved that his mother was neither a “bad girl” nor a “tramp” occurs on page 103 of Victims and Victors: Speaking Out about Their Pregnancies, Abortions, and Children Resulting from Sexual Assault, edited by David C. Reardon, Julie Makimaa, and Amy Sobie (2000).

  1291 The story of and quotations from Lee Ezell come from the film Children of Rape (1994).

  1292 See Sherrie Eldridge, “Unexpected rejection: The subject no one wants to talk about,” Jewel Among Jewels Adoption News (Winter 1999).
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  1293 This passage is based on my interview with Lisa Boynton in 2007. All names in this passage are pseudonyms.

  1294 The horrendous recommendation of euthanasia for children of rape occurred in a blog post by Jenifer Ann Cazador, “Lost souls of polygamy central,” The Wrecking Machine, April 2008, formerly at http://the-wrecking-machine.blogspot.com/2008/04/lost-souls-of-polygamy-central.html.

  1295 The quotation from Kathleen DeZeeuw occurs on page 79, and the quotation from Cindy Speltz occurs on pages 97–98, of Victims and Victors (2000). The second quotation has been condensed. From page 79: “I am not sorry, nor ever will be, that I kept and raised my son. The life I tried to snuff out was the very tool that was used to bring me to a place where I could forgive those involved in what happened to me. . . . Still, I regret the things I put my son through because of my unforgiveness of the man who raped me. It took me many years to come to grips with my own problem, which meant I had to quit blaming him for all my emotional problems. I had many years of analysis to try and overcome my deep-seated hatred and bitterness. . . . It was Patrick, my son, conceived in rape—whose life I had tried to snuff out—who taught me how to forgive. He was willing to forgive not only his biological father, but also me (for physically and verbally abusing him as a child). He kept telling me, ‘Mom, you need to forgive.’ Finally I listened to his most sound advice. It was then that I was able to go on with life and to forgive as I had been forgiven. Patrick was God’s tool to help me find peace.”

  Pages 97–98: “My daughter’s identity is not to be found in the frail characteristics of her biological parents. Her identity is in being a child of God. Jennifer is the link that reconnected me to God. She was the gift that brought me out of fear and darkness into the Light of authentic Love.”

  1296 The quotation from the anti-abortionist conceived in rape and put up for adoption occurs on pages 148–49 of Victims and Victors (2000).