It’s no secret that the election of Trump has brought out the extreme views of certain government officials to light. The main focus of many conservative representatives these past few months has been to completely outlaw abortion, no ifs, ands, or buts. However, what if those “ifs” are traumatic cases of rape and incest? While speaking at the testimony for House Bill 1549, Oklahoma Representative George Faught stated that he believes that pregnancy resulting from rape or incest is God’s will in bringing “beauty from the ashes”.
This is terrifying. Regardless of one’s views, Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, supporting rape and incest should never be excused.
Faught defended his point by asserting that because God worked through incest and rape in the bible, it can’t possibly be that bad. “Obviously, if it happens in someone’s life, it may not be the best thing that’s ever happened..”. Rape and incest is BEYOND “not the best thing that’s ever happened”. It is a devastating and traumatic experience that many women (and men) never recover from. To play down the severity of these disgusting acts is both demeaning to the victims and reassures predators that they will not experience any consequences from their actions. This is exactly why the separation of church and state is so critical to the function of this country.
Oklahoma has a reputation for depleting women of their reproductive rights, especially with Representative Justin Humphrey referring to women as “hosts” in his introduction of a previous bill that would require written consent of the father of the fetus in order for an abortion to be performed.
These policies are not “Pro-Life”. They are simply cruel and demeaning. Why not leave women’s reproductive rights up to women?
