In addressing the issue of abortion in the case of rape in my book ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments, I pose a series of questions to readers:

What if you found that your spouse or adopted child was fathered by a rapist? Would it change your view of their worth? Would you love them any less? If not, why should we view the innocent unborn child any differently?

On a television program about abortion, I heard a man say of a child conceived by rape, “Anything of this nature has no rights because it’s the product of rape.” But how is the nature of this child different from that of any other child?

And why is it that pro-choice advocates are always saying the unborn child is really the mother’s, not the father’s, until she is raped—then suddenly the child is viewed as the father’s, not the mother’s?

The point is not how a child was conceived but that he was conceived. He is not a despicable “product of rape.” He is a unique and wonderful creation of God.

Last year I shared a story on my blog about a 94-year-old woman who was reunited with her 77-year-old daughter who was conceived by rape. It was a powerful reminder of how a child conceived by rape is as precious as a child conceived by love, because a child is a child.

I came across the following story in Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It’s Too Late by James Robison and Jay W. Richards. James, founder of LIFE Outreach International, shares his own story of being conceived by rape:

A Testimony to Life

As important as abortion is in politics, it also can be a painful personal issue. Several years ago, I (James) interviewed a guest on Life Today who had become pregnant as the result of rape. At first, she was so horrified by what had happened to her that abortion seemed her only option. She felt as if having the baby would be an ongoing reminder of her experience. Later, when she heard a song titled “A Baby’s Prayer” by Kathy Troccoli, she felt the need to pray. And as she prayed, she realized that the “little mass of tissue” in her womb was really a person with purpose and potential. She decided to keep the baby and named her Alexis Kathleen in honor of Kathy Troccoli, whose song had touched her heart and caused her to reconsider her options.

As this young woman told her story on our show, I began to weep because I also am the product of rape. My mother was an unmarried, forty-year-old practical nurse who was sexually assaulted by the alcoholic son of the man for whom she was caring. When she went to the doctor to have me aborted—because she had no husband, an inadequate income for caring for a child, and had been raped—the doctor said, “Ma’am, I simply do not believe this is best. I believe it is wrong.” My mother later told me she went home, sat down alone, and prayed. And God said, “Have this little baby, and it will bring joy to the world.”

My mother chose to carry me to term, and I was born in the charity ward of the Saint Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas. Two weeks later, through an ad in the newspaper, my mother released me to a foster family, who raised me for the first five years of my life. My conception was the result of a crime, and my childhood and adolescence weren’t easy, but God had a plan for this unexpected child born in difficult circumstances.

In standing against abortion, we don’t want to minimize the trauma of an unexpected pregnancy—especially by rape or incest. But if we affirm the value of every life even in the tough cases, God will honor the intent of our hearts and use that choice in a way that we can’t imagine beforehand. Both of us have been blessed because a mother in a desperate situation chose life. We both have a child by adoption and can’t imagine life without them. Randy Robison is now forty-two, married with four beautiful children. Ellie Richards was adopted from China. She’s eight and already thinks she should rule the world.

Photo by Chayene Rafaela on Unsplash