"Why I rejected Plan B after my disabled daughter was raped"

[proud2BlibKansan]

BY ELISE HILTON
Wed Feb 01, 2012 19:20 ESTComments (134)

A lot of blog posts are about cultural or news events. A great many are about family life, education, and home improvement or craft projects. Some are about saving money. Many are about abstract theological points, or one’s understanding of Scripture.

This one is not about any of these. This is about the intensely personal moment that being pro-life, and making an honest-to-God pro-life decision, reached and out grabbed me by the heart and clutched hard.

My Dark-Haired Daughter, who suffers from bipolar disorder and limited cognitive abilities, went missing last Monday. For more than 48 hours, we had no idea where she was. Without all the gruesome details, after she was found, it came to light that she’d been brutally and repeatedly sexually assaulted. She’d been taken to the local women’s shelter, where (at least in our area) they do the exams in such cases.

After the police called me to tell me she’d been found, the officer asked me to meet him at the clinic and be reunited with my daughter. When I arrived, I was led to the Gloria Steinem Conference Room. I’m not kidding; that alone almost made me pass out.

more . . . http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/why-i-rejected-plan-b-after-my-disabled-daughter-was-raped

[MineralMan]

1. No matter what, the fetus must be saved...

Feh! I hope sincerely that this poor young woman was in an infertile period when this happened. With all the crap in her life, the last thing she needs is a forced pregnancy to cap off her rape and other problems. Way to go, Mom, you're rilly showin' the love, there....

[d_r]

147. not a fetus

barely a zygote.

[phantom power]

2. Only one side of this fight wants people to have a choice.

The other side wants to take away everybody's choice in favor of a theocracy.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Amen. They are such control freaks!

Wanting to make personal decisions for others.

I read this twice thinking I missed the part where she had discussed this decision with her daughter, who was the REAL victim here.

[OriginalGeek]

3. It's awesome that she had a choice

I hope every woman always does have a choice.

[Lionessa]

5. She didn't, her mother made the choice.

[aquart]

13. Does she plan to rip the rape kid out of her daughter's arms and put it up for adoption?

Is that what she's thinking?

[OriginalGeek]

16. Thank you!

You are of course, correct. I should have thought of that too.

[Lionessa]

4. And to inflict the possibility of a rape child on a mentally disabled person at that! NUTS, they

are NUTS! I notice the age of the daughter isn't mentioned. IF she is an adult daughter whom the mother still has legal authority to make decisions for, that would indicate some severe mental disability.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Regardless, she still has the right to make her own choice

Mom didn't even consult her.

[joeglow3]

106. Please explain

We have a set of laws to handle a situation when someone is deemed incapable of making a decision for themselves. How do you decide that one item is exempt?

[obamanut2012]

110. In these situations, courts appoint a GAL

Who does what is best for the person in question.

[proud2BlibKansan]

116. First of all, we don't know how disabled she is

I would also argue that even if her disabilities are severe, she has the right to make decisions about her body. If Mom thinks she's too disabled to make these decisions then she should have put her on the pill when she became old enough to be sexually active.

I'm doubting the story is even true though since there are no news accounts to back it up. I don't believe any parent would fail to report a missing disabled child. And local media would be all over it.

[polly7]

8. And if, God forbid, her daughter is pregnant and has complications ....

how will she justify that?

[aquart]

14. God's plan.

God has fabulous ideas all the time.

[Zalatix]

58. God is NEVER the problem here

it's our interpretation that's the problem.

Especially the interpretation that this idiot mother came up with. Sheesh. What can we do about people like that???

[RainDog]

9. what stupidity. I'm sorry this woman's daughter has to suffer

with this person as her mother.

she's unfit to make such a decision, imo.

[aquart]

10. Rewarding rape is such a clever idea

Let's keep pushing genes for violence into our gene pool. What a brilliant plan to select for violence.

Let's all make sure that the impulse to rape continues generation after generation. Because it's all so INNOCENT and GOD'S PLAN.

[kestrel91316]

17. [phone]. Indeed. I much prefer the approach used by the women

in Sherri Tepper's feminist dystopian novel The Gate to Women's Country. The women cleverly and secretly arranged to ferret out men with the violence gene and exclude them from the breeding pool.

Amazingly clever!

[lumberjack_jeff]

36. Eugenics = "amazingly clever"? n/t

[Boudica the Lyoness]

42. Yes it is clever!

Not making babies with the violent is a wonderful idea.

Common sense should tell a woman not to have a baby with someone who is a violent person.

[lumberjack_jeff]

46. Did you like the part in the book where they bred out homosexuality? n/t

[Zalatix]

73. *crickets*

No responses to that, eh?

[lumberjack_jeff]

76. How many generations would a society survive...

... when one-half of every breeding pair chose "servitor" as a career?

[meaculpa2011]

107. I'm glad that...

I'm not the only one that finds this attitude disturbing (despicable).

The phrase "rape child" from an earlier post, as weel.

[obamanut2012]

113. A child born of rape is a rape child

[Occulus]

115. In the same way a child born out of wedlock is a bastard, right?

Did you ever wonder if labeling children was wrong?

[meaculpa2011]

117. Obviously not.

[LanternWaste]

122. Not quite. A child born of rape is simply a child

"A child born of rape is a rape child..."

Not quite. A child born of rape is simply a child. Any additional qualifiers we place on that child are merely our own biases, opinions and world-views being projected onto that child.

[Ilsa]

124. You don't think there is a genetic predisposition

towards the psychopathy of one rapist parent? It can happen. And having been raped, I wouldn't accept 50-50 odds or even better odds that I'm mixing my genes with someone predisposed to horrible violence.

[Bluerthanblue]

126. thank you

for saying this so well.

[uppityperson]

125. I had forgotten about that part. I really wish she'd left that out. Enjoy the idea of

breeding out aggression though. Did you know Ms Tepper was head of PP in Colorado in the past? I don't recall if the state or region, but it explains a lot of her writings to me.

[lumberjack_jeff]

128. Top to bottom, the idea is ridiculous and offensive in equal measure.

The women who can all point to "a servitor" as father will themselves be servile. Setting aside the offensiveness of eugenics in principle, in practice, at best, you won't simply get docile boys, but docile girls too.

I think it's funny how breeding out guy-ness is such a splendid idea, but point out that the author found the idea equally valuable and useful to breed out homosexuality?
... nothing but crickets.

And I'm supposed to pretend that men are not pariahs here.

[uppityperson]

130. Are you saying aggression="guy-ness"?I saw it as breeding out aggression in both sexes.Crickets?

chirp chirp chirp

[lumberjack_jeff]

136. Yes. What women see as violence and aggression is often simply guy-ness.

In the book, everyone willing to join the military is excommunicated, and their offspring aborted.

Guys don't watch football or nascar to get hygiene tips during the commercials.

[moriah]

141. Glad you said "often", because otherwise....

... it'd be awful similar to saying "boys will be boys, it's your responsibility to put up the stop sign or what happens is your own fault" to a teen girl. (I remember hearing those words from my grandmother's mouth, being said to my sister... who at the time was being molested, and my Granny didn't know about it. It really threw my sister into a guilt trip, blaming herself for not saying no loudly or forcefully enough to stop an adult from hurting her.)

I personally don't see things like contact sports, sparring for fun, or fragging the heck out of your friends on Halo as violence or aggression. That's "guy-ness".

Actual fistfights with the intent to hurt the person, shooting real people for the fun of it instead of doing it to serve/defend your country? Yeah, that's aggression and violence. Not "guy-ness".

[lumberjack_jeff]

145. When a man hears "boys will be boys" he hears a different message than a woman does.

Boys will be boys. To men, "boy" isn't a slur. In general, boys will wrestle, boast, run, shout, compete, and do risky and/or stupid things to attract attention.

But women often (and I don't think it's a stretch to say that at DU this means usually) take "boys will be boys" to be someone's defense of their stereotypes of men. The anecdote above is a good example. Your grandmother obviously didn't say this to defend the adult who was abusing your sister, but that was the apparent takeaway.

In dating relationships, it is necessary to communicate expectations clearly. In the case of victimization, it is incumbent on a victim to speak up, if for no other reason than to protect the next victim.

Let me leave you with something to think about; do you think it's my prerogative to decide which characteristics of womanhood should be bred out of humans? Should my personal definition of what qualifies as passive aggression, mean-girl cliquishness or personal risk aversion be the one we're going to use, or should it be up to a male consensus?

Most men (myself included) have been in "actual fistfights with the intent to hurt the other person". Violent? Probably.

Eugenics-worthy? Let's just say that the society who loses the capacity for self defense is at risk.

[moriah]

146. And I probably should have clarified....

... my post to say "starting actual fistfights".

As in, not in defense of self or others.

[Zalatix]

56. Stupid, fatal premise #1 of the book:

1) That you can ever hope to breed out violence.
(That's like trying to weed out birth defects.)

Stupid, fatal premise #2:

2) That only males commit violence. Failing to weed out violent women automatically keeps violence in the gene pool.

Stupid, fatal premise #3:
3) Oh wait, lumberjack jeff already covered the "weed out homosexuality" part.

[Warren DeMontague]

99. It's funny how "biological determinism" is considered such bad science when anyone suggests,

for instance, that, for evolutionary reasons or whatever, men may tend to be wired more towards visual arousal than women...

yet biological determinism is just dandy when presented in the context that violence is genetically determined, testosterone causes anti-social behavior, and all the rest.

[lumberjack_jeff]

119. Girls: sugar and spice and everthing nice, if they choose.

Boys: Snakes and snails 24x7.

[Lunacee2012]

138. Sadly, I don't think we can

get rid of violence that easy. Plus what would we do about violent women? Sure, violence in women is less of a problem then it is in men, but it still exists.

[Ilsa]

123. This is how I've explained that I could never carry a rapist's child.

Women search for the right partner, and the right father for their children. That doesn't include rapists, and we don't normally seek out to breed child with genetic mental problems, like sociopathy.

Thank you for your post.

[richmwill]

11. "my lovely, incredible, sweet, mentally ill daughter"...

Really "nice" way to describe your child.

[tsuki]

27. I wonder if the mentally ill was inherited? nt

[Boudica the Lyoness]

43. The daughter was adopted.

It seems the mother doesn't know if her adopted daughter, with all the mental problems, is the product of rape.

[Bluerthanblue]

44. not that it matters-

but the article explains that the daughter is adopted.

Another article explains that the mother and her husband have 4 other children, all of whom are adopted.

I think the mother made a foolish, self serving decision, which isn't something that requires her to be mentally ill, or having bi-polar disease.

[Zalatix]

57. Hey, that's not funny.

[Enrique]

12. no woman should have to make such a difficult decision

Elise Hilton should make the decision for everyone.

[niyad]

15. wow, this woman has some real issues

she freaks out because the room is named after gloria steinem, almost as though that had some part of her decision. and then there is the "smell of flop sweat"--realllly????

. . .
(for the ten millionth time, plan b is NOT an abortifacient, it PREVENTS a pregnancy.

But Plan B is a whole other thing, isn’t it? It’s about taking the life of an innocent child. (Click here to find out more about Plan B’s abortifacient properties.)

. . . . . .
(wow, her daughter is adopted, possibly the result of a rape, so she should have to experience the same thing herself. just. . .wow , )


My daughter, though, you see, is adopted. For all I know, she herself is the product of rape. Her birth mom was known to prostitute herself, and for women in that life, rape is common.

And even if this wasn’t the case, what child deserves to die due to a parent’s sins and brutality? Taking an innocent life is wrong - I know it, and every genuinely honest person on the face of the earth knows it.

Gloria Steinem and her softly-lit room be damned.



this woman comes off as such a sanctimonious, self-righteous little prig, I truly feel sorry for her daughter.

[Jumping John]

18. Plan B is a contraceptive and:

From:

http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/features/plan-b-11-questions-11-answers

9. How does Plan B work?

Plan B works like other birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. Plan B acts primarily by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. It may prevent a sperm from fertilizing the egg.

If fertilization does occur, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work and pregnancy proceeds normally.

[HockeyMom]

70. Yes, Plan B is just a mega dose of plain BC

Ask any older woman before Plan B ever was marketed.

[pokerfan]

96. Yeah, it says right on the package

Plan B One-Step® should not be used if you're already pregnant, because it won't work.

There's so much disinformation out there.

[niyad]

19. the interview with her makes her sound even loonier, and nowhere does it actually give the

daughter's age, only this:

In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Hilton said that her daughter, *****who functions at about the level of an eight to ten year old due to a cognitive disability****, is “pretty traumatized” but doing “about as well as can be expected.” Police have yet to find the perpetrator, but the investigation is ongoing.
. . . . . . . . .

Hilton says her daughter understands what happened and is glad she did not take the pill. “I said, ‘That kind of medication makes you have an abortion if you’re pregnant.’ And she said, ‘Oh, it would kill the baby. Oh, then I’m glad you didn’t give it to me.’”


. . . .

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/interview-mom-says-no-to-plan-b-after-her-disabled-daughter-is-raped


so, let's see, the daughter functions at about an 8year old level, but clearly understood what her mother had forced on her.

[uppityperson]

28. ‘That kind of medication makes you have an abortion if you’re pregnant.’ Sigh. No. It prevents preg

pregnancy you ignorant mother. Talk about lying to your child.

[IcyPeas]

20. first, we have to ask Ron Paul...

if it was an "honest rape"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002270132

[Old and In the Way]

21. Amazing rationalization. A rapist doing God's work?

Another good reason to remain agnostic on this issue of whether God exists.

[libodem]

22. Lucky fetus

Subgeneticly endowed with retardation, mental illness and violent rapist kidnapping tendencies it will turn out just like the fundie grandmother.

[hlthe2b]

23. Forcing a girl with limited cognitive abilities" to bear a child after rape?

In what universe is THAT noble. She could die in childbirth. No one ever mentions that fact. She surely doesn't sound capable of making this choice for herself. SO, WHO's choice is this?

I find it appalling, frankly. While I might personally have difficulty with having an abortion, I am as PRO-CHOICE as they come. Thrusting this on an incompetent human being incapable of caring for themselves, much less a child? Sorry... I can't condone this.

[niyad]

30. according to the interview, the daughter's cognitive functioning is about that of an 8 year old.

[LisaL]

49. Yep.

And plan B is considered contraception, not abortion. Is this mother against all contraception?

[obamanut2012]

114. As I said elsewhere in this thread: why didn't the court get involved?

I am sure the police would have contacted both court and social service reps. Often, or even USUALLY, in cases like this, the court will appoint a GAL, if the young woman doesn't already have a dedicated case worker.

[Dawson Leery]

33. The parents are committing child abuse.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

45. Well said.

Often times you say what I'm too pissed off to put into words.

[HockeyMom]

112. Limited cognitive abilities to me

as a mental health worker would mean very little abillities; as in the mental capacity of a toddler (VERY low functioning). If her daughter is bipolar, medication will stabilize her moods. While bipolar is legally a mental illness, it has nothing to do cognitive abilities. BiPolar people can be sitting at the office next to you. They are all around. It doesn't sound as if this Mom is doing very much for her daughter. IF this story is true, this mother is failing her daughter in so many ways. Pregnancy will only makes things worse.

Look at it this way. Try to imagine a 2 year old with PMS, cramps, periods, morning sickness, or LABOR? A grown woman with the mental capacity of a 2 year old can become very, very dangerous, certainly not "sweet" when in PAIN that she is incapable of understanding.

I worked with a 8 year old child with the mental capacity of a 2 year old. He "got out" one night while Mom was out and left him alone. Do you know Mom was arrested for abandoment? If this daughter just "got out", HER Mom could also be charged because her daughter is still in effect a CHILD.

[pitohui]

24. page doesn't load but let me guess

why do evil creeps like this get publicity and attention? there would be no article published if this woman had done the decent thing and allowed her disabled, viciously raped daughter to have proper care

you do not continue a rape for 9 months by forcing the victim to have the rapist's baby and put more rape genes in the world

how can this woman call herself a "mother?" she is evil and doesn't even have the decency to be ashamed of her evil and vindictiveness

yes, i'm sure she was disappointed to have a bipolar daughter who can't protect herself properly, the way to react to the disappointment is NOT to force the daughter to bear the child of a vicious rape

these so-called pro lifers truly hate their children and this is why they believe women must be FORCED to have children, they do not understand that anyone might be motivated by love to have a child, it must be forced on the woman

[Matariki]

25. She was going to "pass out" because a conference room was named after a champion of women's rights?

that's all I need to know about this idiot. I feel sorry for her daughter, and not just because of the sexual assault.

[Turbineguy]

26. It's a difficult decision to be sure.

Let's hope they qualify for gubment help in case of complications so this lady can afford her family values.

[tsuki]

29. Look at ME! Look at ME!

I am so holy and wonderful.

Gag me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. Exactly!

[anneboleyn]

83. My thoughts exactly. It's all about her, and HER holiness. I weep for the poor daughter.

[BiggJawn]

31. "Employed at a think Tank"...

A Conservative Think Tank, no doubt.

[niyad]

71. supposedly an "ecumenical" think tank

taff Profile: Elise Hilton | Acton Institute
www.acton.org › ABOUT › Acton Staff
The Acton Institute is an ecumenical think-tank dedicated to the study of free-market economics informed by religious faith and moral absolutes.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

89. "Free market economics" is the key word here

There's a whole school of "Christian" economics based on ONE SENTENCE in the New Testament, in the Parable of the Vineyard, in which the owner of the vineyard asks, "Am I not allowed to do what I want with what is mine?"

This school of thought conveniently ignores the fact that the parable isn't about money at all.

It's an anecdote about a man who hires day laborers throughout the day and pays them all exactly the same, no matter how long they worked, all day or one hour.

The idea that the parable is intended to illustrate is that people who have been life-long believers have no advantage over late-life converts in God's sight.

But leave it to right-wingers to take the money part literally.

[JHB]

103. Ug. "Ecumenical" in this case sounds like...

...Fundies and Opus Dei Catholics getting together to find new ways to justify scolding everyone about sex but not about naked greed.

It's "ecumenical" because the Fundies refrain from calling the Catholics "Satanists" to their face.

[HockeyMom]

32. What was done in Day Hab and Group Homes where I worked

If the young woman was a ward of state, she was put on BC automatically for several reasons. Severely mentally disabled young women did not understand the pain and bleeding of periods. The Pill helped with that. Then, the agency did not want in the event of a rape these women to get pregnant. Being on the Pill, would prevent that possibility. For women who had parents or guardians, a doctor and couselor would talk to them about all these things, and ask for their permission for their daughter to be put on the Pill. I never worked with any woman who wasn't on the Pill. BTW, the head of this agency was a former Roman Catholic NUN. I guess she didn't agree with the official church's stance on these matters.

That is very cruel what this woman is doing to her daughter. The rape alone would have tramatized her, even more if that is possible, than an average woman. She will also not understand, or have a very difficult time, coping with the physical changes of a pregnancy. This woman will have to be carefully watched so she doesn't do harm to herself or the baby she is carrying.

Very sad situation.

[xmas74]

40. I worked in a state agency with MR/MI.

All of our female clients-all of them-were on birth control of some sort for the same reasons you mentioned. Even our Catholic clients were on it. From what I understand the female clients were given a dispensation due to their mental state. It was all on the up-and-up.

At least, that's what we were told. At some yearly reviews we would occasionally have a client's clergy from back home adding input. Medications were read off and the reason for each med was given. Only once did I ever hear of a member of the clergy disagreeing with a client being on bc-and that clergymember wasn't Catholic.

[Kellerfeller]

108. In those cases

Why did not they not just tie the woman's tubes (if she would never be capable of raising a kid) and solve that problem permanently? For the wards of the state, I mean. And counsel the others who were not wards to do the same?

Am I missing something (and being incredibly insensitive in the process)?

[lumberjack_jeff]

35. a) how old is the daughter? b) does mom have power of attorney?

The answers to those questions determine whether this was her mom's decision to make.

Choice belongs to the woman faced with pregnancy, even if her cognitive ability is suboptimal, not her mom. She has no more right making this decision for her daughter than the (girls? woman's?) father does.

[Raven]

37. Reprehensible! This is all about Mom, the "think tank"

lady, not about her daughter. Note that the daughter may have some bi-polar problems but nothing in this article indicates that she is unable to make decisions for herself. Note that the daughter was not even consulted. Also note that this Mother thinks nothing of violating her daughter's privacy by writing this piece of shit in the first place.

[LisaL]

50. Supposedly

the daughter functions at the level of 8-10 year old child. So in addition to bi-polar there got to be other issues, because bi-polar, as far as I know, doesn't make someone function at the level of a child.
And plan B is not considered an abortion drug, it's contraception. It would prevent pregnancy from occurring. I have absolutely no clue as to why this woman would think that it would be better for her daughter who functions at a level of a child to produce a baby as a consequence of rape rather than prevent a pregnancy. No clue whatsoever.

[niyad]

64. and thank you so much for pointing out her violation of her daughter's privacy in making this public

as another poster said, it's all about "MEEEEEEEEEE, and how wonderfully holy and noble i am"

[anneboleyn]

84. Exactly. It's reprehensible.

[Ecumenist]

38. WHO IS THIS NUT??!! I mean, it's not like we don't have <<7 BILLION people on the planet>>

Her daughter, if pregnant, had been brutalised, already has mental issues and God only knows, if they're genetic, that child might end up with an array of concentrated AND combined metal illnesses! How does she know that that child, once born and on the planet wouldn't end up an UNTREATED and incurable member of the criminally insane??!! This may turn out to be a statement of fact, from what we know about the lives of some of the worse criminals , particularly the serial killer and some mass killers.

Without the work of Gloria Steinem and women like her, this idiot wouldn't even have a 'SERIOUS" column to make her stupid and moronic comments. Really, Lady?

I'm no pusher of eugenics, Lord knows that it's been used against my people but if Dark haired Daughter is pregnant and has that baby, mark my words, women are going to start to come up missing.

[hunter]

39. I'd have removed daughter from insane mom's custody right then and there.

Poor kid got raped once, and then again by mom.

[Bluerthanblue]

41. plan B wouldn't have caused an abortion, it would have prevented

a pregnancy.

If she was so concerned about the welfare of the potential 'child', what about the antibiotics which were administered to her daughter? If her daughter is being medicated for her bi-polar disease, what about their effects?

I respect her feelings, and her right to choose (for herself)- I don't respect the way she took this terrible experience in her daughters life and used it to further her own personal perspective.

I understand rape, and the potential concequences on a personal level. I feel for her daughter- for what she's been through, and for the way her mother has used her.

[Locrian]

53. very true - this is one step from every sperm is sarcred

or birth control, etc etc....


good thing the rapist didn't use a condom (sarcasm)

[Cleita]

47. Yesch!

I guess I'm a baby murderer because if that were my daughter, I wouldn't hesitate a minute to give her the pill.

[dembotoz]

48. life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get

never thought of the adoption angle from that angle

what an interesting genetic stew that baby could be.

do not know after reading this if i would reccommend adoption to anyone.

my best friend has an adult special needs daughter
i would not wish that on anyone.

[jillan]

51. This mom of a special needs child wants to know why that mom would want to inflict her daughter with

more trauma????

1st of all - Being pregnant is not easy. Making someone go thru it because she was gang raped AND may not understand the changes her body is going thru almost seems like a form of torture to that young woman. If she has limited cognitive abilities than she will probably have to have a C-Section and will then be forced to recover from a surgery that should never even have happened.

I pray for a miscarriage.

2nd of all - If this young woman has limited cognitive abilities WHERE WAS THE MOTHER OR THE CAREGIVER when she was abducted???

If my daughter got raped, you can be sure plan B will be administered.

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. My friend who has a special needs child asked the same thing on my Facebook page.

Where was this mother when her child was abducted?

[Warren DeMontague]

52. Your daughter's just been raped, and you almost pass out because of the name of the conference room?

I'm sorry. I can't read the rest of this.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. Yes, she's crazy.

I feel for her daughter. Poor kid.

[Generic Other]

59. Proof that orphanages are not always the worst choice

That woman who calls herself a mother is a real mother alright! Too bad she doesn't also have some maternal instincts.

[Lizzie Poppet]

60. It is, however, the more consistent "pro life" position.

If one is of the belief that a fetus is a human being, then the fact that a fetus is a "rape child" wouldn't be grounds to kill it. That is to say, the criminal act by which the child was conceived is in no way whatsoever the responsibility of the child, and does not render that child any less deserving of protection. Being "pro life with the exception of cases of rape or incest" is an ethically inconsistent position.

Fortunately for me, I don't have to face that situation, as I don't consider a fetus a human being...

[niyad]

66. and yet, she plainly states that she would have had no problem killing the rapist. just a tad

inconsistent there, I think.

[Lizzie Poppet]

81. No argument there!

The position I described is a consistent one...but that particular person holding it certainly seems to have other inconsistencies.

[metalbot]

82. Agreed

You can't argue "human life begins at conception and must be protected" and then have exceptions for rape.

Of the people in the US who believe that abortion should be illegal on moral grounds, only about a third of those believe that there should be no provision for rape or incest, which seems strange to me.

[2ndAmForComputers]

139. Consistency isn't a virtue if it's being consistently evil.

[wandy]

61. My heart goes out. It realy does. My logic sees a problem..........

First their is the web page this appears on. Another one of those 'the cloud sperit is right, even if I have to destort the truth to prove it' type places.
Then their is the authors bio.....

E H is a writer, mother of five and wife, currently employed at a think tank. She has been married for 24 years, and holds an MA in world religions.

Skilled writer, and might account for the literary flow of........

So there it was. The whole moral conundrum of abortion in a little green box in my hand.

Fitting so nicley with the next line.....
Click “like” if you want to end abortion!
And then her Blog.
Acknowledging the perfect joy of suffering in Christ,,,,,
As an agnostic I allow for a creator. I do not allow that suffering is a nobel crown.
Heartless, may be. It's just that so much BS comes from the self riteous religous wackjobs that I find it difficult to take it on face value.

[JoePhilly]

62. Yup... its a propaganda piece.

Some of these folks will KILL doctors to stop abortion.

Some will only try to steal elections to stop abortion.

And some will write propaganda pieces.

[xmas74]

63. I was angry at first but now think she's full of crap.

Someone posted this also on Facebook and a gentleman replied. He stated he was from the area this supposed attack occurred and that he never once heard anything about a missing MR/MI adult. He stated that he looked back over the news reports for the last few months and that there was absolutely nothing.

If an adult with mental problems were to go missing wouldn't the family have alerted the police? And in a case with someone who is on major medication the police would have contacted the media asap, alerting everyone in the area about a missing woman. We had a woman here within the last week who wondered off twice and the media was notified both times, search parties were started, etc. (You probably remember the case-it was all over the KC news broadcasts.)

Did a rape really happen? Did her daughter actually go missing? Is there even a daughter? If there is a daughter and this incident really happened shouldn't someone contact social services and notify them about how this woman doesn't seem to be acting in the best interest of her ward? (I'm not even talking about the Plan B at this point. I'm talking about what may have been a non-report and then the discussion of private medical information on a blog that feasibly has an international audience.)

[proud2BlibKansan]

65. Wow. The plot thickens.

Maybe this woman knows where Baby Lisa is.

[xmas74]

77. At least someone knows.

It seems like no one in our neck of the woods knows. Even Dr. Phil couldn't get to the bottom of that mystery.

[niyad]

69. according to her, this attack happened the first of last week. I am going to look at the news

and see if I can find anything.

hmmm, even with multiple search parameters, over a period of time, found nothing.

[xmas74]

79. Exactly.

That's what the poster on Facebook said and he lives in the same television/news market as the author. He said he lived a county over from her-which means that someone would have definitely contacted the media and the general public about a missing woman with mental illness and who is mentally challenged.

I think she's full of crap and making up a story to support her bs claim of being pro-life. She's trying to impress a bunch of anonymous idiots who shouldn't matter. If that had been my child her picture would have been posted everywhere the moment she was noticed missing. My pleas would have been on every tv set, my begging in every newspaper article, and my cries heard over every radio station. Concerned citizens in multiple counties would have joined forces to search for her. From what I can find, none of this ever happened.

[anneboleyn]

87. Great post.

[xmas74]

101. Ty but it's just how I feel.

Whether it did or didn't happen she's taking advantage of a mentally challenged woman and that's disgusting. She deserves to be investigated for that reason alone.

[lumberjack_jeff]

129. I'm sure she's an intensely private person who couldn't drag her daughter through the media glare.

She wrote this article and didn't file a police report? Implausible.

[Auntie Bush]

78. Maybe she even lied about the whole situation.

Did anyone check with the hospital to find out if this incident even occurred?

[xmas74]

80. I don't think you could check with the hospital.

I believe the release of that information would violate HIPAA.

Still, if your mentally ill/mentally challenged daughter went missing a police report would have been filed immediately and the media contacted. The media would release a story-they did it in my area just this last week. The classic "missing persons" rules you always hear about on detective shows wouldn't apply in this case, since she was incompetent and on medication. Attention would be given immediately to the situation.

[Raine]

67. "Gloria Steinem Conference Room. that alone almost made me pass out." Oh give me a break!

Usually making a statement like "I'm not kidding" or "to tell the truth" is a dead give-away that what follows is bullshit! I would think in a situation like that the last thing you would notice is the name on a room. I think this whole story is self-serving bullshit!

[Warren DeMontague]

75. "I'd just cut my foot off with a chainsaw- and they took me to the Richard Nixon emergency room!"

"Can you believe it? The Richard Nixon emergency room! I tell you, that was the absolute worst thing that happened to me all week, that they took me, and my blood-gushing stump, to the Richard Nixon emergency Room!"

[niyad]

68. she is a staff member at the action institute

taff Profile: Elise Hilton | Acton Institute
www.acton.org › ABOUT › Acton Staff
The Acton Institute is an ecumenical think-tank dedicated to the study of free-market economics informed by religious faith and moral absolutes.taff Profile: Elise Hilton | Acton Institute


and a member of the catholic network.

[Odin2005]

72. That mother is an asswipe!!!

[jmowreader]

74. Assuming this isn't just a piece of RW creative writing...

let's throw out a scenario here:

The daughter is, mentally, somewhere between 8 and 10 years old. If she gets pregnant, lives to tell about it, is forced by Elise to keep it because Elise wants to be able to hold the grandchild God sent her, sees the faces of her rapists every time she looks at the baby and ultimately hangs herself, what blog post will Elise send then?

[BrentWil]

85. That is a really rough story..

The mother is taking care of someone and adopted her. To me, it is a no brainer. Take the pill. However, for her it is murder. Seeing from her perspective, it is really really really tragic.


That said, the Government should stay the hell out of any of these decisions.

[Saving Hawaii]

91. It's one thing that she made the decision that she did.

Her daughter will probably rightfully hate her for it. And she'll have the kid and those feelings will change. But the hatred was well-earned and she deserves to live with that. She chose political values over the well-being of her own child.

But the thing that really irks me is that she isn't content to just have made the decision. She wants to gloat about it. "I fucked over my kid. I'm happy about that. You should fuck over yours."

Fuck that bitch.

[BrentWil]

92. I kind of doubt the story is real after a second read, anyway. NT

[niyad]

94. and yet, she would have had no problem killing the supposed rapist

[Saving Hawaii]

86. You know, I grew up Catholic. I'm pro-choice but very much opposed to abortion.

And this made me sick to my stomach. This lady didn't even seem to give a shit about what was best for her daughter. Just what was best for her. "Well, my teenage daughter is hella prego now, but at least I'm not a 'murderer'. Haha." Fuck that bitch.

She should've added that she plans to kick her daughter out the door at 18. No bailouts for freeloading teenagers and their mistakes (aka: children).

[anneboleyn]

88. My "Dark-haired Daughter" -- does this seem odd? The whole thing just has the weirdest tone.

Random, very specific details (the Gloria Steinem room, etc.) It is like amateur creative writing, with "details" thrown in to make it seem "real."

[niyad]

93. that "dark-haired daughter" weirdness was the first thing I noticed. and, I don't recall any

hospitals or clinics or dv centers conference rooms are named.

from what has apparently been learned, there is no indication that police were ever notified of a missing mentally ill person, nor was there ever a story about such a person being found, seriously injured .

[xmas74]

102. And that's something that would have made the air.

If there was a rapist out and about the police would have warned the media. If a mentally ill/mentally challenged woman were missing, the police would have notified the media. If the missing person had been found, the police would have notified the media. If the media is notified, they would gladly run the story. Missing persons and rapists are big news and usually get viewers to tune in.

Of course, someone has to notify the police first.

[Terra Alta]

90. there should be a special place in hell for "mothers" like Elise Hilton.

If she truly cared about her daughter, she would not force her to go through with an unwanted possible pregnancy. She put her idiotic fundie beliefs before her daughter's well-being. Her daughter is already scarred for life from the rape, if, God forbid, she ends up being pregnant as a result that's going to mess her up even more. Elise Hilton is a despicable human being.

[KT2000]

95. I despise this woman

Her essay is all about how wonderful she thinks she is. Adopting her "dark haired daughter" is all about how wonderful she is. " Gloria Steinem room be damned?" is all about her wonderful politics. This poor girl.

[Neoma]

97. Let's set aside the situation for a moment.

I DO NOT like how she keeps mentioning her daughters bipolar. What the fuck does that have to do with ANYTHING?! Like she couldn't make a decision because of her illness? If that's the case, it makes this that much more callous.

[Digit]

98. Sounds like a manufactured story to me

Something doesn't seem right.

No offense meant to original poster.

[proud2BlibKansan]

100. I agree

I think she made it up.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

104. Who Produces LifeSiteNews? (the link in the OP)

From the LifeSiteNews web site:

The service was originally started by Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), a Canadian national pro-life organization headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Campaign Life Coalition, founded in 1978, was one of the first pro-life organizations to emphasize the international dimension of attacks on life and family. Along with a few other groups it pioneered pro-life lobbying at United Nations conferences. CLC president, Jim Hughes, is currently also vice-president of the International Right to Life Federation.


From JustABozoOnThisBus:

Linking to LifeSiteNews is no different than linking to FreeRepublic. Enjoy the right wing screed, but why bring it here? It's just propaganda. I doubt all the so-called facts in the story.

[proud2BlibKansan]

105. Because this is an important issue

and we need to know exactly what lies they are telling. This story is getting lots of play on left wing blogs. I think it's very appropriate here.

[MattBaggins]

109. Gloria Steinem Conference room? This reeks to high heaven of pure BS.

[librechik]

127. I agree--especially when given the fact that author works for "think tank" obviously

she is a propagandist and spinner. Who knows how much of this emotionla appeal set piece is actually true?

[obamanut2012]

111. I do not understand why a GAL wasn't appointed

This is horrific.

[Arugula Latte]

118. Disgusting. This woman makes me sick.

I guess Santorum will be happy she accepted the "gift" of rape for her daughter.

[justiceischeap]

120. Several things wrong with this blog post and the subsequent "interview"

First of all, why would this woman be taken to a shelter instead of immediately to a hospital? If this situation is real, I'd think the first place they'd take a missing woman with limited cognitive abilities was to a hospital, not a women's shelter. One would assume that shelters, as well as the police and hospitals and the media would have an image of the missing woman.

Second, as has been mentioned previously, the whole "Gloria Steinheim" shout-out seems disingenuous.

Third, people from the area aren't finding any news of this.

Lastly, if you go to her blog, Kissing the Leper, this is the blog post about her missing daughter. I would think she would have more details if she was going to blog about it or not blog about it all.

[GeorgeGist]

121. Acknowledging the perfect joy of suffering ...

but having a little fun along the way. -Elise Helton

[renie408]

131. Yeah, I am crying bullshit. 'Gloria Steinem Conference Room'?? WTF?

[renie408]

132. Elise Hilton is either crazy, lying or crazy.

If you go read through her blog, which I DO NOT RECOMMEND FOR THE SAKE OF SANITY, you will see that about an hour and fifteen minutes before she wrote the blog post about her 'dark haired daughter' being brutally and repeatedly raped and injured to the point of needing to go to the hospital, she posted a picture or Meryl Streep and commented: "When I grow up, I am going to look just like..." Then added the caption underneath, "As I was posting this, my Dark-haired daughter told me, "She is the most beautiful old lady, next to you." Ah, pride...."

She also writes a chortling comment about getting so many responses to her article in the 'We think potential people are more important than actual people' news. The comment was "I must be doing something right" and then a link to the article. If you check her blog, you notice that she never gets more than four or five comments and those seem to come from the same set of people. But HEY PRESTO! The rape post got 43 comments!! (Don't you think its kind of funny that she got more comments here than on her own blog??)

I dunno, the whole thing smells of grandstanding to me.

[renie408]

135. Yep, going with lying.

A member of the Childfree Life forum is looking into the same article and could not find any mention of a mentally handicapped girl missing in the Grand Rapids/Sparta area during the time frame stated. Also, they point out that Ms. Hilton got some information about HIV treatment wrong. You can start treating right away to minimize the risk of infection, which isn't mentioned in the blog post at all.

Also, if you google 'Gloria Steinem Conference Room' and Michigan, Sparta or Grand Rapids, the only results that you get reference this incident and a bunch of really random stuff about Gloria Steinem. And if you google anything relating to this incident, the only sites mentioning it are all referencing back to the article on LifeSiteNews (I think I got that right).

It all just smells.

[AnnNYC]

143. West Grand Rapids YWCA appears to have a "Gloria Steinem Conference Room"...

I googled "Gloria Steinem Conference Room" enclosed in quotation marks, and "subtracted" Plan B from my search with a minus sign, and found this:

http://www.grpl.org/cgi-bin/grmag/grmagsearch.cgi

It appears to be a 1993 issue of Grand Rapids Magazine talking about the YWCA in Grand Rapids, MI. The West Grand Rapids YWCA (closer to Sparta, Elise Hilton's home) has a hotline for sexual assault and domestic violence, and is apparently staffed with Nurse Examiners trained to collect rape kits ["Contact the YWCA Nurse Examiner Program (616.xxx.xxxx)"]:

http://ywcawcmi.org/sa-whatshouldido.php

Doesn't mean that I don't think Elise Hilton could be lying! As a local, she may be quite familiar with these details, and may have provided them to bolster the "truthiness" of her tale!

After reading about this story for several days, and looking way back in Hilton's blog, I'm most horrified about her violations of her children's privacy! The daughter in question has had a lot of trouble over the past 2 years, blogged about by her mother -- things that any decent parent would hold in strictest confidence. For instance, if a child is convicted of a crime as a minor, in juvenile court -- the idea is that the record is sealed, and never comes to light if there are no further convictions during a subsequent probation period. Well -- if your mother blabs/blogs about such a thing, doesn't help you much if the court seals your record, does it??!!

Anyway, I hope from the bottom of my heart that this girl was not raped -- and that if she was, she hasn't become pregnant.

And Plan B is contraception, for God's sake!!!! Prevents conception!!!! Not an abortifacient!!!!
Ga-a-a-a-a-hhh!

[Yavin4]

133. It's Very Telling That She Equated the Name of A Room to the Horror of What Happened to her...

daughter.

When I arrived, I was led to the Gloria Steinem Conference Room. I’m not kidding; that alone almost made me pass out.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

134. "Gay Girl in Damascus"

'nuff said IMHO.

[Lunacee2012]

137. If this girl is so disabled

that she can't make a choice about her own body, then where the hell was her mother at when she went missing?

[proud2BlibKansan]

140. If she's that disabled,

she should be on birth control.

[Lunacee2012]

142. Agreed, nt.

[KamaAina]

144. People with disabilities get decisions made for them all the time

but this is particularly egregious.