Rape pregnancy a touchy subject

Rape pregnancy a touchy subject

By R. Diah Imaningrum

MALANG, East Java (JP): A Jakarta-based daily wrote "Jakarta
is Crying" to describe the mass emotion when the Acan family was
the victim of rape and robbery two years ago. But when there was
a riot and mass rape last May, the reaction was different. Some
were doubtful whether the incident was factual or just a campaign
by some non-governmental organizations to discredit the
government. Police and lawyers are busy collecting proof in order
to make the case juridically transparent.

If the mass rapes are assumed to be factual, some of the
victims might well be pregnant. Such pregnancies were not the
mothers' will and could result in long-term trauma. When the
babies are born, the mothers' psychological, material and
physical burdens could well increase.

Who will be responsible for the unwanted children? Whose duty
will it be to devote attention, love, education and everything
else needed to make them physically and mentally healthy when
they grow up?

Such questions may justify the solution that fetuses arising
from rape could be aborted.

Some religions, ethics and laws recognize the fetus' right to
live in the mother's body and they prescribe as to when a fetus
is called a human being that may not be aborted.

Islam, for example, recognizes the fetus' right to life after
three months of pregnancy because at that moment the spirit of
life has been blown into it by God. Catholics recognize such a
right from the moment of conception.

Modern genetics and embryology explain accurately the growth
of human beings from the union of egg and sperm until the baby is
born. The continuous and uninterrupted growth implies that human
life exists from the moment of conception. Many scientists
suggest that some steps can be regarded as the beginning of human
life, such as the planting of an ovum in the uterus for about six
to seven days, after brain waves can be observed and after the
quickening of the fetus' movement in the mother's body.

In a rape pregnancy, it is not easy to let the fetus enjoy his
right to life because it is unexpected. Usually there are three
arguments to support the abortion of a fetus resulting from a
rape.
* Everyone has the right to self-determination. This argument is
based on the interpretation of an autonomy principle in ethics.
As an autonomous person, the pregnant mother -- who carries her
baby in her body -- has the right to choose whether to continue
the pregnancy or to throw the baby away.

This argument has to be clarified. It is doubtless that every
person has the right of autonomy. But does it mean that it has to
sacrifice another person's right to live that is recognized by an
ethical principle as well as the law?
* The pregnant mother suffers psychologically and physically
because of the rape. It is not fair to compel her to carry the
result of that crime for nine months. For that reason, although
the fetus has become a human being, the mother has the right to
abort it.
* The fetus has no right to exist in the mother's body. It exists
there because of an act of aggression by the rapist. And letting
it exist in the mother's body is aggression against the mother,
both mentally and physically. So, the mother has the right to
challenge that aggression by throwing the fetus away.

Those two arguments still need clarification as to whether it
is true that the fetus is an aggressor. Although the rape is not
fair, it is not the fetus that has committed the crime. The
opinion that a fetus is an aggressor that has to be killed must
be clarified. Like the mother, the fetus is a victim too. The
actual aggressor is the rapist.

According to Article 15 of Law No. 23/1992, abortion of
pregnancy caused by any reason is prohibited because it is
contrary to religious, social and legal norms. Nevertheless, in
an emergency situation, such as securing the mother's life,
specific medical action can be taken, with some conditions. An
extreme medical indication exists when there is a tradeoff
between the mother's and the fetus's lives if no medical action
is taken. It can be interpreted that pregnancy caused by a rape
can be aborted as long as it does not endanger the mother's life.

"Who is responsible for the pregnancy" is the most important
question. It is the task of the government to guard and to save
the fetus as well as the mother. Why? Because, one of the tasks
of the state is to guard and to save the rights of its citizens,
especially the powerless.

Assistance that can be extended to the rape victims may
include psychological, religious and social avocations, as well
as the adoption of the babies if their victimized mothers do not
want to take care of them. Other people should respect the human
rights of the rape victims with a greater understanding, sympathy
and compassion.

The writer is a lecturer at Widya Karya Catholic University in
Malang, East Java.