A reader of this blog on Facebook expressed concern that my post yesterday, “Abortion, fetal tissue, and rape” was encouraging rape victims to submit to abortions. Let me be clear. My post is not about encouraging rape victims to have abortions. I believe that it takes courage and generosity to continue to carry a child conceived by rape, and that we should affirm, support and encourage women who do so.
My post focused on the use of DNA from aborted children to convict rapists, and particularly those who rape young girls. In cases where the girl continues her pregnancy, we can get a DNA sample from the baby after she gives birth, or even during the pregnancy if other reasons exist for amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. In cases, however, where the young girl has an abortion, we want to preserve a DNA sample to help law enforcement find and punish the rapist. That is why I support the Kansas law requiring abortion clinics to preserve fetal tissue from abortions performed on victims of statutory rape and submit tissue samples to state crime labs for use in criminal investigations.
Teresa Collett
Teresa Stanton Collett is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she teaches bioethics, property law, and constitutional law. A nationally prominent speaker and scholar, she is active in attempts to rebuild the Culture of Life and protect the institutions of marriage and family. She often represents groups of state legislators, the Catholic Medical Association, and the Christian Medical and Dental Association in appellate case related to medical-legal matters. She represented the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota before the U.S. Supreme Court as amici curiae regarding the effectiveness of those states’ parental involvement laws. She has served as special attorney general for Oklahoma and Kansas related to legislation designed to protect the well-being of minors and unborn children. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittees on the Constitution, as well as numerous legislative committees in the states.
