# How does 'except in the case of rape or incest' actually work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 10, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182 "2016-10-10T20:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/61 "2016-10-12T11:11:55Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Incidentally, it’s “rape, incest, or the life of the mother,” right? > > So – what happens if she says she’ll kill herself if she has to carry it to term? I know someone who got an abortion pretty much on that basis. When I was living in a small community where everyone knew each other, my friend “Joan” got pregnant. “Bob” was a mutual friend, as well as the physician for all of us (since he was the only doctor around). Weirdly, Bob kept asking me whether Joan was doing okay with the pregnancy. She was fine - quite excited, in fact. Finally I mentioned to Joan that Bob seemed incredibly worried about her. She burst out laughing and told me that a few years earlier, she had had an abortion on the basis of her mental health. This, of course, was reflected in her medical records. However, it was all a crock - she was not going to go crazy if she had the baby; a sympathetic doctor had agreed to certify that the abortion was necessary on that basis. Anyway, Bob had access to the records, but not the backstory. So he was understandably worried sick that Joan was going to harm herself. That baby is all grown up now - how time flies! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/62 "2016-10-12T11:34:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Then it will be born and eventually be a passenger seated near me on a plane. Not if I go back in time and take care of that beforehand! ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/63 "2016-10-13T04:26:08Z")
> [@RenaissanceMan203](#): > > Until a being is born and is no longer is reliant on being a passive parasitic passenger inside of another person, then they do not rise to the point of being a person. > > A sentient person is one that has the ability to have organized thoughts and has some manner of control over ones body. You do understand that fetuses are not parasites, don’t you? Scientifically speaking, I mean. I know that fetuses-are-parasites is the twin brother of it’s-a-blood-clot, but using sciencey words doesn’t make it true ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/64 "2016-10-13T20:13:14Z")
There are other ways to talk than scientific. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/65 "2016-10-15T17:52:15Z")
In Randy Alcorn’s book Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions, he states: 1. If unborn victims of rape deserved to be killed, so do born victims of rape. 2. Victims of rape are glad to be alive, and some have made contributes to the world. 3. Women wanting an abortion will lie about being raped to get one. He then cites Roe’s claim that she was raped, though that was not part of Roe v. Wade, and it was never mentioned in any of the legal papers or Supreme Courts decision. 4. He also states that he favors stricter penalties for convicted rapists than his pro-abortion (sic) friends do. He offers no cites to back that claim up, and I wonder if he thinks “legitimate” rape even occurs. And let’s not forget the Roman Catholic Church punished a mother for giving consent and a doctor for performing an abortion on a nine year old girl pregnant with twins. So much for the mother’s life and health, rape and incest (the stepfather who knocked her up confessed and was not punished). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/66 "2016-10-15T20:43:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In Randy Alcorn’s book Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions, he states: > > 1. If unborn victims of rape deserved to be killed, so do born victims of rape. . . . ??? That doesn’t make a microgram of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/67 "2016-10-15T20:52:18Z")
If someone isn’t a person until they stop being a parasite on their parents, then most folks aren’t people until some time around 20 years after they’re born. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/68 "2016-10-16T00:44:46Z")
That’s what I’ve been _saying_! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/69 "2016-10-16T05:51:33Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Incest is sort of weird. I think people throw in incest so a woman doesn’t have to prove that her father coerced her. No, it comes from countries where incest and rape are under different legal codes or parts thereof. We had a case in Spain where a child was raped by her stepfather and, because the complaint with the police had been filed as _incesto_ (which happens to be the general term for statutory rape) and not _violación_ (the somewhat-lesser charge of non-statutory rape), the judge refused the permission. The decision was quickly reverted by the next-higher judge de oficio, and this confirmed by a higher level also de oficio, but just in case the abortion law got ammended to add “and incest” because adding “and in case of imbecile judge” wouldn’t be appropriate legal language. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182/70 "2016-10-16T06:46:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In Randy Alcorn’s book Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions, he states: > > 1. If unborn victims of rape deserved to be killed, so do born victims of rape. > 2. Victims of rape are glad to be alive, and some have made contributes to the world. > 3. Women wanting an abortion will lie about being raped to get one. He then cites Roe’s claim that she was raped, though that was not part of Roe v. Wade, and it was never mentioned in any of the legal papers or Supreme Courts decision. > 4. He also states that he favors stricter penalties for convicted rapists than his pro-abortion (sic) friends do. He offers no cites to back that claim up, and I wonder if he thinks “legitimate” rape even occurs. > > And let’s not forget the Roman Catholic Church punished a mother for giving consent and a doctor for performing an abortion on a nine year old girl pregnant with twins. So much for the mother’s life and health, rape and incest (the stepfather who knocked her up confessed and was not punished). The Roman Catholic Church doesn’t permit abortion for any reason, including rape, incest, or the mother’s health, so I’m mystified by what you think you’re demonstrating. Anyway, this thread is really fleshing out exactly why I support _strict_ abortion bans with none of these rape exceptions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-except-in-the-case-of-rape-or-incest-actually-work/768182.md?page=3)