Abortion for incest wreaks more violence upon the victim, rarely leads to genuine healing, and may lead others to believe that the “problem” caused by the violent crime has largely been solved. In cases of incest, abortion often eliminates the only evidence of the crime.
The solution to incest is not abortion, but prosecution of the criminal so he does not commit more crimes, and loving care for his victims so that they experience true physical and emotional healing.
Does Abortion Solve the Problem?
Abortion for incest is the despicable twin of abortion for rape. Many people believe that a woman or girl can simply “erase” the horrible problems caused by incest by getting rid of the baby. But this is a short-sighted answer to a terrible problem. The famous words of H.L. Mencken come to mind: “There is always an easy solution to every human problem ― neat, plausible, and wrong.”
As with rape, the victim’s main problem is not that she’s pregnant. The biggest problem after the trauma of incest is how others think of her and treat her.1
Abortion Covers Up Sexual Abuse
Many “pro-choice” people completely neglect one aspect of incest that is different from the crime of rape: after the abortion, the predator remains. In fact, it is often the assailant who insists upon the abortion to cover up his own crimes.
And the perpetrator of incest often has a willing accomplice in his neighborhood abortion clinic. Pro-life groups have documented dozens of incidents of incest and sexual molestation of girls as young as nine years old. In almost every case when the victim was taken to an abortion mill, staff did not ask questions or follow state law regarding reporting of such incidents. They simply aborted the victim’s child and sent her home, often in the company of her assailant.
As one example, John Blanks Jr. of Mason, Ohio, began molesting his daughter when she was 13. He took her to the Auburn Avenue Planned Parenthood abortion mill in Cincinnati for an abortion. Under Ohio law, doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals are required to report alleged instances of sexual abuse to authorities. But Planned Parenthood had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding sexual molestation, and did not report the abuse. The girl had the abortion and, in fact, clinic workers sent her home with a supply of birth control pills. Blanks continued sexually assaulting the girl for another year and a half.2
It seems that many abortion clinic personnel are more interested in making money than they are in protecting the lives and health of young girls who are victimized by much older men. Perhaps they have bought into the mentality of leading sex educators who have claimed that incest is actually good for children.
Wardell B. Pomeroy, co-author of the notorious 1948 Sexual Behavior in the Human Male with Alfred Kinsey, is one of the most important figures in sex research, and his ideas continue to percolate throughout the community of “sexperts” half a century after he first formulated them. He wrote:
“We find many beautiful and mutually satisfying [sexual] relationships between fathers and daughters. These may be transient or ongoing, but they have no harmful effects…. Incest between adults and younger children can also prove to be a satisfying and enriching experience…. Incest can be a satisfying, non-threatening, and even an enriching emotional experience, as I said earlier.”3
This idea infected the thinking of many of the succeeding generations of sex educators and feminists. Kate Millett wrote, “One of children’s essential rights is to express themselves sexually, probably primarily with each other but with adults as well. So the sexual freedom of children is an important part of a sexual revolution.”4
Rape and Incest: A Slippery Slope
Pro-abortionists have used the rape and incest exceptions for abortion all over the world as the initial “wedge” in their long march towards abortion on demand. However, rape and incest cases combined result in a very low probability of pregnancy ― less than 1%.5 Additionally, the actual number of abortions for rape and incest is miniscule. During the time period 1996-2020, six states compiled the reasons that 2.4 million women obtained abortions. Abortions for both rape and incest totaled 0.39% of all abortions.6
It is common for Planned Parenthood and similar groups to use “hard case” stories in their literature, debates and presentations. They often speak of 12- and 13-year-old pregnant girls (and sometimes, 9- and 10-year-old girls) who are sexually active or pregnant. Planned Parenthood, of course, supplies abortion, contraceptives and, above all, secrecy (“confidentiality”) to these young girls.
We might ask Planned Parenthood who it thinks the male parties to such sex acts are. Certainly, they are not nine- or ten-year old boys! More than 70% of all babies born to teenaged girls are fathered by men over age 20, and who are often much older. The percentage is even greater for babies born to girls 14 years old and younger. Three-fourths of pregnant girls 14 years old and younger report having been coerced into sex.7 By promoting abortion, Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion organizations are directly helping many predatory incestuous situations to continue.
Abortion is just as inept a solution for incest as it is for rape or any other reason ― especially from the psychological point of view.
Incest expert R. Bruce Sloan, M.D., states, “The psychiatric basis for terminating the life of an unborn baby incestuously conceived has absolutely no scientific merit and derives from a blind adherence to a legal formulation espoused by abortion promoters now including organized psychiatry.”8
Georgia Early went right to the heart of the matter when she said:
“When incest is involved, allowing abortion in pregnancy cases of minors tends to compound the exploitation of the innocent victim and protect the perpetrator from exposure so that he may continue his illegal and immoral acts without fear of discovery…. Abortion also perpetuates the generational violence where the abused child becomes the child abuser.9
One of the primary concerns regarding incest-caused pregnancies is fetal deformity. However, the vast majority of incest cases occur between stepfathers and stepdaughters, so there is no increased probability of fetal deformity in such cases. It is extremely difficult to measure the frequency of deformity in babies born of incestuous relationships between genetic fathers and daughters, because such babies are rare. They are rare because pregnancies are rare, and the vast majority of these pregnancies end in abortion, usually at the insistence of the father. However, several small studies performed on such babies showed anywhere from a 0% to 25% incidence of serious birth defects in cases of bloodline incest.10
Summary
In conclusion, abortion for either rape or incest can never be justified for several reasons.
A child conceived in violence is himself innocent and created in the image of God. He has done nothing to deserve the death sentence, any more than a child conceived within the bounds of a loving marriage. Even some pro-abortionists recognize this principle. As one writer for ‘Catholics’ for a Free Choice said, “Support for abortion in cases of rape and incest exemplifies the secular manipulation of religious sentiment. If the morality of the antichoice platform is based on protecting the fetus, then it is illogical ── and irreverent ― to suggest that any fetus qualifies for the death sentence.”11
Finally, abortion for the “hard cases” such as rape and incest is always used by pro-abortionists as a wedge to obtain abortion on demand. This has occurred in almost all of the developed nations and is now happening in many developing countries. If pro-lifers allow a law with a rape and incest exception to be passed, they will soon be facing abortion on a massive scale.
This article was originally published in May 2017 and was most recently updated in January 2024.
+ Endnotes
[1] David Reardon, one of the world’s foremost experts on the psychological impacts of abortion, says:
In fact, just as with rape, there is no psychiatric evidence, nor even any theory, which argues that abortion of an incestuous pregnancy is therapeutic for the victim ── it is only more convenient for everyone else…. The problem the pregnant incest victim faces is not the pregnancy, it is the psychological pain of incest. Again, as with rape, it is the discrimination and superstitions of those around her which make the pregnancy difficult, not the pregnancy itself.
David C. Reardon. Aborted Women, Silent No More. Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1987, pages 199 and 202.
[2] Rick Wesley. “Planned Parenthood Facilities in Cincinnati, Nationwide Facing Charges of Covering Up Child Rapes.” CCN-USA, May 30, 2007; Charlotte Allen. “Planned Parenthood’s Unseemly Empire.” The Weekly Standard, October 22, 2007.
[3] Wardell Pomeroy. “A New Look at Incest.” Variations Magazine, 1977, pages 86 to 88, and Forum Magazine, November 1976, pages 84 to 89.
[4] Feminist writer Kate Millett, quoted in The Age of Taboo. Daniel Tsang (editor) [Boston: Alyson Publishers], 2001, and in Paul Likoudis. “Geoghan Case Reflects the Muck of a Deranged Society.” The Wanderer, January 24, 2002, pages 1 and 7. For many other quotes by liberals advocating incest, write to Brian Clowes at bclowes@hli.org.
[5] According to Robert Carroll of the Santa Clara County Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program in San Jose, California, and Dr. George E. Maloof, a psychiatrist at the Community Mental Health Center in Daly City, California, the pregnancy rate per victim (not per incident of felonious intercourse) is “less than one percent” [Telephone conversation with Robert Carroll on April 5, 1978, quoted by Rep. Thomas J. Bliley (R-Va.) in July 25, 1983 testimony printed in the Congressional Record.
Also see the report on the presentation made at the Symposium on the Psychological Aspects of Abortion at the Loyola University School of Medicine, November 1, 1978]. The Christopher Street program in Minneapolis reported four cases of pregnancy in 400 cases of incest, or about 1%. Santa Clara County’s incest treatment program, run by Henry Giaretto, reported slightly less than 1% pregnancies (12 instances) in 1,500 cases of incest. And Washington State’s incest treatment program reported no pregnancies in more than 600 cases. If these studies are combined, we see that the probability of pregnancy due to incest (per girl, not per case of intercourse), is 16 out of 2,500 cases (one out of 156, or 0.64%) [R. Bruce Sloan, M.D. New England Journal of Medicine. Quoted in G. Maloof, M.D., “The Consequences of Incest.” The Psychological Aspects of Abortion [University Publications of America], 1979, page 74].
[6] Tabulation of reports on “Induced Termination of Pregnancy” from Florida [1998-2020], Louisiana [1996-2018], Minnesota [1999-2019], Nebraska [2001-2019], South Dakota [1999-2019], and Utah [1996-2018]. See https://www.hli.org/resources/why-women-abort/.
[7] “Are Young People Different Today?” Population Reports [Series J], October 1995, page 13. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
[8] Bruce Sloan, M.D. New England Journal of Medicine. Quoted in G. Maloof, M.D., “The Consequences of Incest.” The Psychological Aspects of Abortion [University Publications of America, 1979], page 74.
[9] Georgia “Incest, Sexual Child Abuse and Abortion.” Life Advocate, May/June 1980. Another insightful comment by Basile Uddo, Professor of Law, Loyola School of Law, completes the pro-life response:
Abortion is to rape and incest what morphine is to pain ― a superficially appealing, temporarily relieving, woefully inadequate response to something serious. The immediate benefits only mask the deeper wounds, which can fester to the point of great injury. A physician would never “treat” his patient only with morphine unless his was a hopeless case. To “treat” rape and incest pregnancies with abortion is a way of saying these women are hopeless cases ― violated, tainted, damaged goods, for whom abortion is a way to scrub away the “scarlet letter.”
Basile Uddo, Professor of Law, Loyola School of Law, “Pregnancy Due to Rape and Incest.” Restoring the Right to Life: The Human Life Amendment (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press), 1984, page 188.
[10] On one end of this spectrum, we have Swedish psychiatrist Dr. Carl Olstrom, who has heavy experience in the study of fetal deformities resulting from incest. He says, “There is no evidence to support the assumption that children resulting from incestuous relationships [with a father or mother] run a greater risk of being malformed than other children” [Carl Henry Olstrom, M.D. Medical World News, February 4, 1967]. However, three smaller studies showed serious birth defects in up to one-fourth of all children that were a product of bloodline incest, an incidence that is about fifteen times the expected normal frequency [Mary Meehan. “Facing the Hard Cases.” Human Life Review, Summer 1983, pages 19 to 36].
[11] Helen Tworkov. “Antiabortion/Prochoice: Taking Both Sides: The Heated Abortion Debates of the 1992 Elections Prompted a Buddhist to Explore Her Faith’s Views of ‘The Great Matter of Life and Death.'” Conscience, Spring 1997 [Volume XVIII, Number 1], pages 8 to 13.
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Dr. Brian Clowes has been HLI’s director of research since 1995 and is one of the most accomplished and respected intellectuals in the international pro-life movement. Best known as author of the most exhaustive pro-life informational resource volume The Facts of Life, and for his Pro-Life Basic Training Course, Brian is the author of nine books and over 500 scholarly and popular articles, and has traveled to 70 countries on six continents as a pro-life speaker, educator and trainer.
Incest victims, because they tend to be underage and because incest can be ongoing, should definitely not carry the child of their father, brother, uncle, other male relative. Cannot think of anything more horrific than forcing a 11-year-old girl to carry her own sister, niece, cousin. But even more horrific, young girls are getting their periods a lot younger then when I was a girl (I’m 68) but just because an 11-year-old girl is menstruating, that does not mean her body is developed enough inside to carry a baby to term. 10-15 year-old girls who get pregnant are at risk for developing serious complications in pregnancy: Preeclampsia (High Blood Pressure in pregnancy), this can damage the kidneys and can be fatal to mother and baby. Eclampsia, a condition associated with high blood pressure that causes seizures in pregnancy, severe anemia, toxemia, bleeding during pregnancy, hemorrhage, long and difficult labor, for baby: low birth weight, premature birth, and fetal and postnatal death. The risks to the baby is due to the mother’s biological immaturity. Their bodies are just not ready to bear children. Pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition for these young girls!
Incest is more common than people may think. I’ve known several women who have been victims of incest and, believe me, when they got their period, they begged their abuser to use protection or get them some protection! Incest is one of the most despicable crimes one can commit. It’s right up there with the worst of the worst sex offenders! NO! A child does not need a constant reminder of her father’s, uncle’s, brother’s, or whoever (sometimes it’s more than one male relative) depravity.
Abortion could not possibly be more traumatizing than rape, incest or carrying a stillborn fetus. This has nothing to do with a “cause”. I am pro-life too. However, sometimes I think we forget where the “cause” and the “politics” ends and the real pro-life, the humanity begins. Pro-life is not just about protecting the unborn. It’s about caring about those who are already here as well. If you tell me you care about the unborn but don’t care about an 11-year-old incest victim or a woman forced to carry a non-viable fetus, then you are not pro-life!
I had one friend who told me she that when she was growing up and going through this, she sometimes wished she would get pregnant, then someone would know and she could get out. However, she told me the thought of having her father’s or her brother’s or her uncle’s baby sickened her. She said she wouldn’t even have known whose child it was. The abuse had gone on since she was about 4 until she got married at 16 just to get out of the house. I had another friend who I had to cut ties with because she was just too screwed up, she was in an out of mental hospitals. She told me that if her father had gotten her pregnant, she would kill the baby in front of him! One friend told me that she had her childhood taken away from her and she resented that.
These young incest victims don’t need to have any babies by their daddies, uncles and brothers. They are still babies themselves. The exceptions for rape and incest need to be included in every abortion-on-demand ban. I don’t have a problem banning abortion-on-demand because it sends the message that life is cheap and disposable. However, when people ban life-saving health care for rape and incest victims, force them to carry the product of their father’s, brother’s, uncle’s depravity, and force 11-year-old rape victims to leave the state to get the help they need, when they force women to carry non-viable embryos and fetuses until they either miscarry or give birth to a stillborn, or an infant who may only life a few minutes, or a few hours, then “they” are not “pro-life”. They are just a different form of abuse.
I firmly believe that the movement involving pro life in regards to violent rape, gang rape, and incest is a bad decision. I hope that the state is prepared for a higher suicide rate. The pro life offices and services should voluntarily assist in the need of increased financial/welfare needs. Prepare to cover all of the medical expenses that accumulate over the course of the entire pregnancy. Why should the victim be forced to pay for the medical bills if she felt that she had no
choice? Americans who want to adopt should adopt within America. There is an overload regarding unadopted children in the state of Tennessee. Social and child services should be prepared for abandoned babies/children. Some mother’s will see violence in the face of the innocent baby/child. Social and child services and pro life agencies should cover all expenses for long term psychiatric support to victims. The trauma will increase the psychological trauma.
Michelle, we understand your concerns. However the rape aspect of abortion is largely a red herring. It’s used by pro-abortion advocates to tug at the heartstrings when in fact, the vast majority of abortions are done for convenience. You don’t have to take our word for it, it’s on the Alan Guttmacher site, the research arm of Planned Parenthood. Also, the number of babies for adoption has plummeted since abortions became legal. This writer’s mother worked for Catholic Charities, counseling and helping mothers who would do just this: get help and assistance during their pregnancies, then help adopt out the babies. After the legalization of abortion, that department closed as there were no longer babies to service. And finally, you should be aware that ANY woman who needs assistance during her pregnancy can get this from pro-life agencies around the world. They will assist every mother – as will Catholic dioceses – around the world. Finally, a woman who has been raped is very deserving of our sympathy but she needs serious counseling to deal with the rape. Getting an abortion actually compounds her trauma, because women who abort have statistically proven higher rates of depression, suicide, drug use, etc. from the trauma of the abortion. (Post-abortion syndrome.) These are difficult situations. But in the end, honesty with the woman about what is best for her psychologically and physically takes trained help. #lovethemboth