Abortion, is perhaps one of the most controversial and important subjects in today's society. It is not a subject many people take lightly by many people. Opinions range widely and heatedly on this issue. According to your article, "Rape, Incest, and Abortion: Searching Beyond the Myths," you state that most women would choose not to have an abortion, as a result of even the most extreme violent sexual assaults. My focus in this letter is to challenge and question some of your assumptions and statements that abortion is neither helpful nor necessary in cases of rape and incest, and in facts does far greater harm than good to these victims of sexual assault. .
Dr. Reardon, you state that sexual assault pregnancies are widely misunderstood. My question for you is what is there to misunderstand about the issue of sexual assault pregnancies? You state that women want an abortion so that it will "in some way help them recover from their assaults." The purpose of an abortion is not to "recover from the assault," as you put it. Chances are theses, women never fully recover from being the victim of such horrific acts of violence from a perpetrator. The purpose of an abortion, sir, is to end an unwanted pregnancy. In the cases you refer to, these are unwanted pregnancies inflicted in the commission of a violent heinous act. You therefore are victimizing the raped female twice, by forcing a woman to keep a pregnancy that she did not ask for, on top of the indignities of rape or incest. .
When asked, "How could you deny an abortion to a twelve year old girl who is the victim of incest?" (Reardon, 1) you stated, that most women would choose not to have an abortion, if this situation came about. Would you feel the same way if your own 12 year old daughter was raped and impregnated? You state in your paper, "it is commonly assumed that rape victims who become pregnant would want an abortion". You then quoted from what you referred to as the only, major study of pregnant rape victims ever done, citing Dr.
