Yeah, it’s a lot more difficult to kill yourself if not given any tools with which to do so. What would you do, gnaw your wrists open?
I’d try to cause an abortion and, failing that, kill the child. I wouldn’t be able to stand seeing/hearing my child in pain and I would rather do a mercy killing early on, than allow it to suffer. If I’ve yet to escape and it’s unlikely that my child would either, I would not want the child to exist under hellish conditions.
Plenty of women have made choices like this before, so to those who are saying a woman wouldn’t make this choice - it’s not true at all. Most of the bonding comes from breast feeding and, if you don’t breast feed, there’s less of the maternal hormones floating around.
I’m someone who really wants to have a child of my own some day and, if I were to be raped, I might keep it, but not if I and my baby are held prisoner by some sicko.
I’m curious about those of you who would mercy kill the baby to keep it from suffering. Suppose it wasn’t a baby. Suppose the kidnapper went out and abducted another woman. You know he plans on treating her the same way he’s treated you. She’s unconscious so you haven’t had a chance to communicate with her yet. But unforeseen circumstances give you an opportunity to kill her (and assume these circumstances won’t occur again so this will be your only chance). Do you kill the other woman to save her from suffering or do you let her live?
An adult would be able to comprehend the situation, at least try to defend herself and communicate her wishes. She might also be able to help me so we can both escape. An infant wouldn’t be capable of any of that, which makes it an entirely different choice.
So if your kidnapper had an infant–possibly his own child, possibly another kidnapping victim–and you had access to it, you’d kill it?
I really don’t know. I’d feel obligated to look after the well-being of my own child and spare it the horror of living that life, but I don’t know if I could make that decision for someone else or their child. It’s possible I wouldn’t be able to kill my own child when it came down to it; we aren’t exactly talking about a situation where rational thinking is likely to rule.
Plus the whole idea of having to care for it–it’s adding insult to injury. Bad enough to force me into pregnancy but to force me to take care of this disgusting thing you’ve made me give birth to?
I would not kill an adult human and that’s a silly comparison. If a baby were given to me with the understanding that I would be required to care for it, then I would probably mercy kill it, as it doesn’t have the cognitive function to withstand the stress of its situation, and it would be fucked up for life.
I would feel horrible supporting such a rotten, terrible life, and I could not, in good conscious, allow such an existence to happen. If my kidnapper wants to raise my baby himself, he is welcome to do so, but I would not help prolongue its suffering.