Sick scenario.

[Moooooo]

Lets say your 29 years old and recently married the love of your life, your soulmate (dated for 4 years, married for 4 years ).  One day you get a call from your boss.  He says, "We need you to go out of town for couple weeks.  For business, you know." 

While away on this business trip you receive a phone call from the Police Department in your hometown.  The officer informs you that your wife has been raped.  You immediatley rush home to be by her side. 

A couple weeks later you find out that she is pregnant.  The doctor concludes that the conception date was within the time period of your business trip.  There is almost no possibility that the child is yours.

Your wife asks (as she bursts into tears), "What should we do?  I need your help."

She wants you to make the final decision.

Abortion
Adoption
Keep the child
etc...

What do you do?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'd completely leave it up to her.

[Moooooo]

I'd completely leave it up to her.

Lets say she wants you to make the final decision.  Actually, shes forcing you to make the final decision.  Abortion?  Adoption?  Keep the child?

[Gabu]

I would personally leave it up to her.  If she wanted to get an abortion, I would completely understand.  If she didn't, I'd do what I could to take care of the baby, even if it wasn't mine.

If I absolutely had to make the final decision, I personally would not want to keep a child born from rape, and it wouldn't be very long into the pregnancy, so I'd probably say to abort it, but now we're getting into the field of abortion debating, which never fails to get ugly fast, so I would prefer to leave it at that.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well then I guess if she was pro-life and would refuse to get an abortion, I'd recommend adoption, otherwise I'd recommend an abortion since I don't consider abortion at that very early stage to be immoral.

[A18]

1. See to it that the rapists is put to death.

2. Put the kid up for adoption.

[The Duke]

Since the scenario asks you to make the choice, leaving it to your wife is not an option.  She herself has said so.  Anyway.

I'd put it up for adoption.  No reason to make the child pay the price here, but no reason to accept all the psychological baggage that would come with raising the product of a rape.

[Rob]

Abortion, definitely.

[Ebowed]

Keep the child....

1. See to it that the rapists is put to death.

I thought you wanted to replace the death penalty with hard labor?

[A18]

I do, but that isn't an option right now.

[John Dibble]

I'd tell her that the decision is up to her, and I would be fine with her bearing the child and would raise it as my own if that's what she chose to do.

[Richard]

I'd keep it.  A kid is a kid, whether I'm the biological father or not.  I'd treat him as if he was my own.

[Jake]

I'd fordib her to get an abortion.

[John Dibble]

I'd fordib her to get an abortion.

Of course, by law you have no say in the matter.

[angus]

I'd tell her that the decision is up to her, and I would be fine with her bearing the child and would raise it as my own if that's what she chose to do.

I'm wondering why so many chose adoption/abortion as well.  Presumably, if she isn't on the pill, and they're married, and they're at that age, then probably they were more-or-less family planning anyway.  So, this saves me a little effort.  I got a free child without even breaking a sweat. 

Of course, if we already had seven or eight, then I'd suggest she abort.  Of course, as dibble points out, the law (and my own ethical sense) forbids me to demand it, but I think in that case I'd make it the sort of suggestion that wouldn't be denied.

[angus]

I'd put it up for adoption.  No reason to make the child pay the price here, but no reason to accept all the psychological baggage that would come with raising the product of a rape.

do we know, from studies or from anecdotal evidence, that the products of rape get treated worse than any other non-biologically related children such as the adopted, or step, children?  I'm not sure that I've ever read that they do suffer any worse than other non-biologically related demographic.

[The Duke]

I'd put it up for adoption.  No reason to make the child pay the price here, but no reason to accept all the psychological baggage that would come with raising the product of a rape.

do we know, from studies or from anecdotal evidence, that the products of rape get treated worse than any other non-biologically related children such as the adopted, or step, children?  I'm not sure that I've ever read that they do suffer any worse than other non-biologically related demographic.

I'm not sure that they are treated worse, but I think from the woman's perspective, it would be a little strange/bothersome that every time they look at their child, they're reminded of such contradictory feelings.  On the one hand, memories of a horrible rape, and on the other hand is the attachment and love of a parent for their child.  I was more worried about the emotional difficulties of the parents, the child would never have to know how he was concieved.

[MasterJedi]

Keep it, nobody should have any doubts there. If you don't want it you can always give it up for adoption.

[12th Doctor]

(Proceeds to mimic Dukakis and give some policy wonk answer) 

[Nation]

I would ask her to have the child, and whether we would raise it or not would be up to her.

[angus]

yes I think the subtext is:  are you okay raising a child you know you didn't father?  I think I am.  I suppose I should say I hope I am.  We have this inside joke that we don't really know who our son's mother is, to put a weird spin on an old saying.  Everyone of my and my wife's relatives think our son looks like me, and not like her.  Anyway, that's unrelated, but the fact that my wife only recently gave birth (yes, she's the mother, I saw him plop out.  I wished I hadn't, but I did.  Advice to potential fathers:  avert your eyes at that moment if you ever want to see your libido again.)  Anyway, the recent arrival makes me think about these things more.  And I think my wife is the sort who'd not get an abortion except in the most extreme of circumstances.  I'm not sure whether she'd consider the aforementioned circumstance extreme in that sense.  I also don't think she'd get an abortion even if I wanted her to, since she's not too keen on the procedure in general, and I hope it doesn't ever become an issue at some point twenty years after we have a daughter.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  In any case, I think if I wanted a child, and my wife were pregnant, and the ultrasound showed it was healthy and normal, my inclination would be to carry the pregnancy to term, and to raise the child as my own.  What to tell the child, if anything, about his conception?  Well, that's a trickier business, isn't it.

[Joe Republic]

I would ask her to have the child, and whether we would raise it or not would be up to her.

Me too.

My position on abortion with rape as the reason is that I would strongly prefer they keep the child, and let it be adopted later if necessary.  But I don't particularly have a massive problem if they choose to abort it either.  The reason being that the woman did not choose to get pregnant, and yet they would otherwise have to suffer the physical and psychological ordeal of pregnancy and labor.

[ilikeverin]

Nah, my wife would have bit his 'nads off if someone even tried to do that.

[nini2287]

I'd tell her to have the child and over the next 8 months seriously discuss whether the two of us are ready to be parents, and if not, put it up for adoption.  I would not let my child die.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I'm against spreading rapist genes through rape, so get an abortion.