[My mother] finally approved of her unwanted one, whom she had borned so long ago in such great pain and sorrow and humiliation …
Some people disclaim their natural heritage. I always name my origin. It didn't hold me back and neither has my color. I was born in poverty. My father raped my mother when she was 12.
Now they've named a park for me in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Great Singer Ethel Waters
CALCULATION OF PREGNANCY PROBABILITY DUE TO RAPE
Possible Rape-Induced
Sociological, Physical, or Demographic Factor Pregnancies
Assume an initial sample rape victim
population of 100,000. 100,000
Factors Affecting the Woman's Fertility.
About one-third of all rape victims are
postmenopausal or have not yet reached
menarche (first menstruation), and are
therefore generally sterile. Of those
victims that are of childbearing age,
47 percent have been rendered permanently
sterile due to elective surgery or
environmental effects. Finally, about 40
percent of all non-sterile women of
childbearing age are temporarily sterile
due to contraception use. This means that
(100% – 33%) X (100% – 47%) X (100% – 40%)
= 18.9% of rape victims were fertile at
the time of the attack.[A] 100,000 X 21.3% = 21,300
A woman is fertile only three days out of
a typical 28-day cycle. Furthermore, even
if all conditions are ideal and both man
and woman are fertile, and intercourse takes
place on every fertile day, pregnancy will
take an average of five months (or a total
of 15 fertile days out of five 28-day cycles)
to achieve.[B,C] 21,300 X (15/140) = 2,280
Factors Affecting the Rapist's Fertility.
Men in the United States have an infertility
rate due to natural or surgical causes
of about 25 percent. However, as a class,
rapists have a much higher degree (57%) of
erective or ejaculatory dysfunction serious
enough to render them sterile.[D,E]
2,280 X (100% – 57%) = 980
Rape is legally defined as penetration only;
ejaculation need not be accomplished.
Of those nonsterile rapists achieving
penetration, only about half deposited sperm.[D,E]
980 X 50% = 490
CONCLUSION: These calculations show that, on the average, 490 per 100,000 women who are raped become pregnant in the United States.
This is equivalent to 0.490 percent, or about one-half of one percent.
References. [A] R.B. Everett and G.K. Jemerson. "The Rape Victim." Obstetrics and Gynecology. 50, 1977, page 88. Also data based upon telephone communications with Dr. Charles Pratt, Survey of Family Growth Division, National Center for Health Statistics, April 4, 1978, and Planned Parenthood-World Population on April 4, 1978. Summarized in testimony by Congressman Thomas J. Bliley, Jr., (R-Va.) on July 25, 1983, and reprinted in the next day's Congressional Record. Also see United States Bureau of the Census. Reference Data Book and Guide to Sources, Statistical Abstract of the United States. 1990, United States Government Printing Office. Table 99, "Contraceptive Use By Women, 15-44 Years Old, By Age, Race, Marital Status, and Method of Contraception: 1982." [B] R. Pearl. The Natural History of Population. New York: Oxford University Press, 1939. Pages 72 to 79. [C] V. Seltzer. "Medical Management of the Rape Victim." Journal of the American Medical Women's Association. 32, 1977, page 141. [D] C. Groth, A. Nicholas, and Ann Wolbert Burgess. "Sexual Dysfunction During Rape." New England Journal of Medicine, October 6, 1977, pages 764 to 766. [E] M. Dahlke, et al. "Identification of Semen in 500 Patients Seen Because of Rape." American Journal of Clinical Pathology. 68, 1977, page 740.
FIGURE 79-2
PREGNANCIES CAUSED BY RAPE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1973 TO 1990
(1)
(2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Rape Estimated Pregnancies Legal
Reported Reporting Total Caused Abortions
Year Rapes Ratio Rapes By Rape Performed
1973 37,662 55.5% 68,000 333 744,600
1974 40,008 52.8% 76,000 372 898,600
1975 41,501 56.2% 74,000 363 1,034,200
1976 43,222 54.1% 80,000 392 1,179,300
1977 47,829 53.3% 90,000 441 1,316,700
1978 50,590 48.8% 104,000 510 1,409,400
1979 57,958 50.5% 115,000 564 1,497,700
1980 63,599 51.4% 124,000 608 1,553,900
1981 63,038 55.7% 113,000 554 1,577,300
1982 59,967 52.8% 114,000 559 1,573,900
1983 61,019 47.0% 130,000 637 1,575,000
1984 66,367 56.0% 119,000 583 1,577,200
1985 71,060 61.0% 116,000 568 1,588,100
1986 73,453 48.1% 153,000 750 1,475,000
1987 73,456 53.2% 138,000 676 1,510,000
1988 75,441 55.8% 135,000 662 1,550,000
1989 80,045 51.1% 157,000 769 1,610,000
1990 77,920 60.1% 130,000 637 1,575,000
AVERAGES, 1973 to 1990 (18 years) 554
1,402,550
CONCLUSIONS: An average of 554 rapes result in pregnancy each year. An average of 1,402,550 abortions are performed each year.
If every rape-caused pregnancy ended in abortion, 1 out of every 2,532 abortions would be performed for rape. This is 0.0395 percent of all abortions (just under four one hundredths of one percent).
IMPORTANT: Note that this table takes into consideration not only those rapes actually reported, but those that are not reported as well. The calculations performed by the United States Census Bureau divide the reported rapes by the reporting ratio to arrive at the total number of annual rapes committed in this country.
Calculations and References.
Column (2): Figures are from Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce. National Data Book and Guide to Sources, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1990 (110th Edition), 960 pages. Table 289, "Forcible Rape Number and Rate, By Selected Characteristics: 1970 to 1988."
Column (3): Figures from the Statistical Abstract, unnumbered table entitled "Police Reporting Rates for Personal and Household Crimes: 1975 to 1987," page 168.
Column (4): Column (2) divided by Column (3). This calculation yields the total number of estimated reported and unreported rapes committed in this country by year.
Column (5): Figure 79-1 shows that the calculated probability of pregnancy from rape is about 490 per 100,000 assaults. Therefore, total pregnancies resulting from rape would equal Column (4) X 0.0049.
Column (6): Figures are from the Statistical Abstract. Table 100, "Legal Abortions Estimated Number, Rate, and Ratio, By Race: 1972 to 1985." Numbers of abortions for other years in this table are extracted from Centers for Disease Control and Alan Guttmacher Institute datasheets.
Verification With Studies. This number has been verified by several studies performed in the late 1960s. These studies, which are summarized in Figure 79-3, show that about one in 1,238 rapes result in pregnancy. Although 20 years old, the studies are entirely valid, because the basic parameters (as shown in Figure 79-1) remain the same.
No similar studies have been performed since 1970, because the liberalization or elimination of abortion laws have rendered the question of rape-induced pregnancies largely moot.
FIGURE 79-3
RESULTS OF STUDIES REGARDING THE FREQUENCY OF RAPE-INDUCED PREGNANCY
Rapes Pregnancies Ratio
54,000 80 1 out of 700 [1]
86,000 22 1 out of 3,900 [2]
14,400 0 [3]
914 21 1 out of 44 [4]
117 0 [5]
524 3 1 out of 175 [6]
155,955 126 1 out of 1,238 (0.08%) TOTAL
References. Note that all of these studies are more than 15 years old.
Again, NO comprehensive studies of this nature have been performed since the late 1960s, because the liberalization or elimination of abortion laws has rendered the question of pregnancies caused by rape largely moot…
Verification: The Louisiana Experience.
The state of Louisiana requires the most comprehensive reporting on abortions in the country. Therefore, its records are the best source for determining how frequent (or infrequent) abortions for rape really are.
In Louisiana, the abortionist must fill out a form entitled "Report of Induced Termination of Pregnancy" (Form #PHS 16-ab) for every abortion he commits. The form notes at the top that "Failure to complete and file this form is a crime."
Item 9d on this form is entitled "Reason for Pregnancy Termination."
The Office of Public Health of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals compiles these statistics.
Over the 14-year period 1975 to 1988, 202,135 abortions were performed in Louisiana.
Of these, the reasons were listed for 115,243 of them.
The reasons for these abortions are listed below:
JUSTIFICATION FOR LOUISIANA ABORTIONS
Mother's mental health 114,231 (99.12%)
Mother's physical health 863 (0.75%)
Fetal deformity 103 (0.09%)
Rape or incest
46 (0.04%)
This means that, in Louisiana, 1 out of every 2,483 abortions is performed for rape or incest. This number, which is statistically very reliable due to the large sample population, almost precisely confirms the results of the calculations described earlier in this chapter.
The state of Missouri has noted similar ratios. In 1980, the state operated under court and Executive Orders to pay for rape and incest abortions for poor women. Not a single claim under these headings was submitted during the entire year.[7]
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