@Smashley It’s an impossible question to answer. I have a human being in my life who is my favorite person in the world. I cannot possibly comment on a desire to have him never exist. But I can share about the pain that both of us experience in an ongoing way. My very clear trauma from abuse and his existential trauma about the circumstances of his conception and his difficulties being raised by a traumatized, fearful, angry, and resentful mother.
If we were to remove him (the person he is and our relationship) entirely from the equation, yes, I would have preferred to abort. But that is not possible and is of questionable use to think about, in my opinion.
My point was to raise some of the difficulties that I uniquely experienced. Having an unwanted pregnancy at a very young age, interrupting my development and social relationships, majorly impacting my financial state, education and career trajectory, severe mental illness, long-term health consequences (that are costly), etc. I’ll add that being so young severely compounded my trauma and I don’t know what this experience is like for people who felt “ready” for parenting.
You point out how personal these debates feel when we personally experience something that most people do not and those are the people who make laws about it. The thought that all pregnancies from rape SHOULD result in rape is a difficult one for me to wrap my head around and is personally painful, particularly to my son. But I absolutely think it should be an option. It is very confusing for anti-abortion people to have a pro-abortion stance in cases of rape, but I just have to believe that their intent is a good one. While I fundamentally believe that abortion should be a strong option for victims of sexual assault, I don’t believe that is the only circumstance in which abortion should be offered.