By Al Staggs

As the chaplain on duty for rape victims,

I encountered this young woman in her late teens,

her face and limbs exhibited severe physical abuse,

her body language exuded shame, fear and trauma.

It was virtually impossible for her to talk through the avalanche

of tears streaming down her face.

Her mother had already asked her what she had done

to provoke a man to attack her.

Seems to be a common theme in our culture

to blame the victim.

The perpetrator is not around to inquire

as to his motivation.

If she is pregnant,

under the laws of the land,

she will give birth

and this child will be her charge

until she dies.

She had no power

over her body regarding conception

and now, a male dominated world sees to it

she has no power regarding a possible birth.

Victimized twice,

once by a rapist

and secondly by a society lacking compassion for women,

a society which aids and abets the criminal.

If she is pregnant,

much of Christendom

counts it as God’s Will

that she carry this forced pregnancy

to full term.

Church and faith do not offer a reprieve.

An abortion would only occur behind God’s back.

If our culture and our laws have their way,

this young woman will be tied to the crime of the man

who walks away to freedom,

never having to bear responsibility,

never having to give his crime a second thought

while the young woman will be forever affected spiritually,

emotionally and financially for the rest of her life.

Though they are not seen,

the emotional scars run deep,

therapy and medicine will most certainly be needed

to help her confront the demons of trauma.

The society that mandated this egregious policy

is the same one that took away social services.

In that notably pious place of Texas,

they’re getting ready to eradicate all such assistance.

God is so good,

not Texans and not the GOP.

It takes a lot of spirituality

to mandate birth for a young rape victim

and then take away any assistance for survival

and then to show up for church

to worship your compassionate God.