January 26, 2024
The crime of rape, the violation and violence of rape, is an evil that must not be ignored, as too many are violated with intent and too few brought to justice. It is an issue that should be tackled head on, with the understanding that our first concern needs to be the safety and support of the victim, and should include law enforcement, as criminal behavior should be met with a criminal justice response.
At the beginning of my career, I covered the police beat and moved to the courts, where every day I saw the wrecking ball of such violence play out, and I, like many others, have seen how rape impacts those we love. And with friends who have been conceived in rape, I also know that a person’s origin story does not dictate their value, humanity, or worth.
Real people are hurt by this crime, which makes the abortion lobby’s efforts to use their pain as a speed bump hurried over to get to a call for more abortion both offensive and insensitive.
But here we are again, as a “research letter” from abortionists claimed that nearly 65,000 babies were conceived by rape in just 14 states in the short period of time following the end of Roe v. Wade, in states with new pro-life laws.
The lead mathematical speculator for the “research letter” is Dr. Samuel Dickman, whom NPR reports “is also the medical director of Planned Parenthood Montana and a plaintiff in several lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions in Montana.” So, someone with a financial interest in more abortion and less regulation called for more abortion and less regulation… and many in the media loved it. Go figure.
This speculation was pushed recently by National Public Radio, in an article that noted Students for Life of America/Students for Life Action’s viewpoint that how a child is conceived does not diminish that person’s worth. But the article went further than that, indicating that our team “did not immediately return NPR’s request for comment for this story.”
Let’s start a fact check of this wild ride through math with whether that was accurate. In fact, as screenshots show, the NPR reporter reached out about 8 p.m. the night before the piece ran on the morning show, All Things Considered.
To address the misinformation, I sent the following letter to NPR, via email, to set their reported record straight.
SFLActionBlog - 1.26.24 - NPR Letter
EDITOR’S NOTE: No response from NPR as of the reporting on this incident.
Resources sent to NPR included:
For services available for women in crisis, feel free to visit Standing with You.
https://www.standingwithyou.org/
To consider the lives of people who are valuable no matter their origin story – people like Jesse Jackson – you might enjoy this:
To hear from a person who values his life:
https://studentsforlife.org/2022/06/03/today-on-explicitly-pro-life-he-was-conceived-out-of-rape/
To hear from a woman who experienced rape:
To consider the criminal justice issues at stake: