I’ve been purposely staying away from the Todd Akin story and the entire “legitimate rape” controversy. I’d never even heard of the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate until his now infamous comment, and still know very little about the man and the political situation in Missouri. The whole sorry episode has become another fortuitous “macaca” moment for the Left and their sock puppets in the mainstream media; crank up the faux outrage and don’t let up until your target is neutralized.
 
More importantly, it’s a distraction from issues that really need addressing; the economy, Obamacare, the national debt (edging ever closer to 16 trillion!), border security, taxmegeddon, the Middle East… and yes, abortion.
 
The attacks from the Left, and the infighting on the Right, are preventing us from having a legitimate discussion about the right to life. Specifically, does a child conceived through rape have a right to be born?
 
Rebecca Kiessling, who produced the DVD “Conceived in Rape: From Worthless to Priceless,” would answer that question with an emphatic “absolutely!” Kiessling, also a pro-life speaker and an attorney, hosts a website dedicated to sharing her own story and those of others, individuals whose mothers chose to carry their babies to term after being raped ~
 

Have you ever considered how really insulting it is to say to someone, “I think your mother should have been able to abort you.”? It’s like saying, “If I had my way, you’d be dead right now.” And that is the reality with which I live every time someone says they are pro-choice or pro-life “except in cases of rape” because I absolutely would have been aborted if it had been legal in Michigan when I was an unborn child, and I can tell you that it hurts. But I know that most people don’t put a face to this issue — for them abortion is just a concept — with a quick cliche, they sweep it under the rug and forget about it. I do hope that, as a child conceived in rape, I can help to put a face, a voice, and a story to this issue.

 
Last year there was a heartwarming story in the news that also put a personal face on this issue: Mom reunites with biological child 77 years later. Minka Disbrow, who just celebrated her 100th birthday, was raped at the age of sixteen. She gave her baby daughter up for adoption in 1929. A search for family medical history eventually led to an amazing reunion – when Minka was 94.
 
Her daughter, Ruth Lee, was raised by a Norwegian pastor and his wife. From early on, Lee knew that she was adopted, and grew up a happy child. She went on to marry and have six children;

… including the Alabama man (the son who initially contacted Disbrow), a teacher and astronaut Mark Lee, a veteran of four space flights who has circled the world 517 times. She worked for nearly 20 years at Walmart — and especially enjoyed tending to the garden area.

 
The two women met at Minka’s home in California ~

Disbrow couldn’t get over how Lee’s hands were like her mother’s. Lee was amazed at the women’s similar taste in clothing. They pored over family photo albums and caught up on the years Disbrow had missed.

Now there’s a family that I’m willing to bet is pro-life – without exception.
[For more on Minka’s touching story, see this LifeSiteNews article.]

 
Thankfully, it sounds like the GOP platform going into the convention includes the call for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion with no explicit exceptions for cases of rape or incest. This despite Mitt Romney’s waffling over the tougher stance.
 
As with the Akin affair, the Left, as usual, will take the opportunity to demonize Republicans, citing the GOP position as “Neanderthal” and “anti-women.”
But I’m pretty sure the real demons are on the other side.

 
Think about it…
 

If abortion IS NOT the ending of a human person’s life, then no justification for abortion is necessary.
 
If abortion IS the ending of a human person’s life, then no justification for abortion is adequate.
 
~ Greg Koukl ~