Abortion and Sexual Assault Op-Ed

Word Count: 629 for Op-Ed part only

Based on peoples opinions and knowledge that I have surveyed on these topics, I am
astonished on how many people are not informed correctly on abortion or sexual assault. I
decided to dig deeper into the facts and find solid evidence on these topics.
It is correct that most people believe abortions are from sexual assaults, or that people
hear about abortion more often than sexual assault; and many people share the same beliefs as
me. It makes me wonder, if so many people feel this passionate and feel that these topics are
important and not dealt with correctly, why isnt there more news or talks about how to solve or
fix these occurring issues? I surveyed a total of six people and got various answers to questions
such as how often they hear about sexual assault versus abortion and what percentage of
abortions did they believe were due to sexual assault. The results were scattered with only three
saying the correct percentage range: 0%-20%. In reality, statistics and research from doctors
have been found to only have 1%-3% of reported abortions stem from sexual assault. This
raises the question of whether or not abortions should be classified as more important than
sexual assault. Upon further research of studies in 2008, there was a total of 1,212,350 reported
abortions compared to 203,830 reported cases of rape or sexual assault. Based on statistics, if
every rape case led to pregnancy then the total number of abortions based on rape should be
between 12,135-36,370. That leaves around 1,175,980 abortions that werent based on sexual
assault but unwanted pregnancy and unprotected sex. So, why do many people assume
abortions are from rape and that pro-life people are forcing rape victims to keep their babies?
Why when brought up does the topic abortion lead to sexual assault? Being a pro-life myself, I
can testify that if somebody was raped and wants an abortion, by all means you may get one,
but if you feel like the baby can do good in the way even though they came from a terrible event
or you got pregnant from unprotected sex, you shouldnt be allowed to just get an abortion

especially for free. Many people are quick to assume that an abortion is due to sexual assault or
that sexual assault leaves the victim pregnant and leads to an abortion when in reality the two
items are only able to be connected through a venn-diagram. More than 50% of abortions are
not caused by sexual assault and therefore sexual assault should be more talked about and
have more importance than the fact of abortions. Pro-life is only trying to teach females to be
careful as to avoid an abortion unless they are sexually assaulted, but more than half of aborted
babies have no reason to be aborted except for careless behavior. The baby that was aborted
could be the scientist who invents a better medication or equipment that can better ones life;
perhaps they cure a disease or cancer but instead they were aborted due to recklessness.
Abortions should not be compared to or labeled as rape cases in the fact that so many more
occur than rapes. Indeed, most rapes arent reported but some abortions also are done illegally
and unsafe methods which creates higher numbers and statistics that still symbolize the same
idea: abortions are not based on rapes and shouldnt be labeled as so. Pro-lifers shouldnt be
criticized nor should rapes and abortions be labeled as hush-hush topics and shoved to the
side as not important. These topics are very important and should be handled as so but should
not criticize peoples opinions or be labeled wrongly due to improper acknowledgement and
factual evidence.

Works Cited Page

http://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_mediapacket_statistics-about-sexual-violence_0.pdf
https://www.nsopw.gov/en-US/Education/FactsStatistics?
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https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv08.pdf
http://www.lifenews.com/2014/01/08/25-of-women-getting-abortions-faced-physicalsexual-or-emotional-abuse-beforehand/
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/ab-unitedstates.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0904509.html