Is an Abortion also a Rape?

The fact that I'm posing this as a question should make it clear that I'm contemplating this issue rather than asserting a thesis.

I'm going to put the actual thoughts in a continued post, since I realize this might not be a topic that all readers will want to consider.

One reason I'm posing this as a question is that I'm not entirely clear on the legal definition of rape, due to my somewhat cursory understanding. My attempts to use the Internet have yielded little help, since most sites merely confirm that most people are confused because the definition varies with each legal jurisdiction.

Apparently, some definitions define rape as the penetration of a human body without consent, by means of another body or an object. Some definitions require emission by the rapist; some don't. It's a woefully murky area for something of such significance.

Now, at first glance, the typical abortion does not appear to be rape for two reasons:
1) The abortionist does not perform the abortion for sexual gratification.
2) The woman gives her consent.

Granting that it is true that the abortionist does not receive sexual gratification, how could abortion be a form of rape? Isn't it simply another medical procedure, devoid of carnal intent?
This might assume that fulfilling sexual desires is necessary for a violation to be considered rape. If the rapist fails to achieve gratification, is it no longer rape?
What if the intent is solely reproductive?
What if the intent is unrelated to sex at all? One could violate a body to achieve revenge, punishment, or control.
The lack of gratification (or the intent of gratification) does not dispel the possibility of rape.

Still, the purpose of the abortion is supposed to be to fulfill the desires of the woman, not the abortionist. This seems to me to be the greatest argument against abortion being a form of rape. The abortionist submits to the woman's will; the abortionist is not compelling the woman to submit to the abortionist's desire to penetrate the woman's body.

In other words, the greatest argument against abortion being a form of rape is that the woman consents to it.

Or does she?

How many women would say they freely chose to have abortions? How many woman would say that it was their will to have their bodies undergo such a procedure?

Rather, isn't it more likely that a woman would have an abortion because she felt compelled by circumstances beyond her control?

This marks another significant deviation from a standard definition of rape. During a rape, the rapist both imposes his will on the victim through force and penetrates the victim's body. In the case of abortion, the threat or force comes from a source other than the physical penetrator.

Thus, it would seem difficult to argue that the abortionist was in fact a rapist. Indeed, there is no individual entity that "desires" the penetration...despite the presence of a belief that one is compelled and forced to undergo the procedure. So what is it that compels and forces, and does it bear responsibility?

One response might be to borrow some of the "collective" and "social" language of many of those who advocate a woman's right to choose. That is, abortion might be a form of "social rape." Our Western population as a collective body functions in such a way that it desires women to undergo abortions. Our society expresses such desires through its institutions. Abortionists are merely the instrument or tool by which the society then penetrates the woman's body after threatening her with punishment if she resists. "Either submit to the social institution of abortion, or face a series of penalties in society." Granted, every member of society does not desire a woman to undergo an abortion. But even a rapist has a conscience that speaks against his action.

Although an abortionist takes a life, and a woman consents to that life being taken...society is guilty of the forced violation of her body.

Legally, I've never heard of "society" being taken to trial, and I'm not sure I'd want to live in a world where a human institution could hold such a trial. But there are courts higher than those of man, and they have been known to judge and punish societies as such...

Comments

[Publius]

If abortion were rape, wouldn't ordinary run of the mill murder be rape? Would a cop shooting someone in self-defense have committed justifiable defensive rape?

[Publius]

And do we want to get within even a mile of accepting the concept of justifiable defensive rape?

[PeterTerp]

Not to be too overly-technical, but one could argue, based on some of the laws I've seen out there, that certain instances of murder would be legally classifiable as rape in a jurisdiction where rape is defined as penetration even with an object. For instance, if a victim were stabbed intentionally, one could argue that victim was raped. I have a hard time imagining the prosecution taking that route, but it's not completely beyond imagination.

Although fictional examples aren't always the best, you might think about the one scene in Saving Private Ryan where the American soldier is stabbed by a German in a protracted scuffle. Spielberg was definitely depicting that murder as a sadistic form of rape.

And don't forget that there is even a class of thrusting sword called the "rapier," although that might be a false cognate.

I don't think the argument as I laid it out above would lend itself toward a concept of "justifiable defensive rape." Your will is not free when you act in self defense. Injury or death to an attacker is accidental to self-preservation. Rape suggests that the perpetrator has imposed his or her will on the victim in the act of penetrating the victim's body without the victim's consent.

If my will were completely free, I would not hurt the attacker, but an attacker limits the freedom of my will by forcing me to choose justifiable actions that I would rather not choose at all. Thus, I am not imposing my will on an attacker. Rather, I am resisting the attacker's attempt to impose their will on me.

I think the next issue someone might raise to my question is what is even the point of classifying abortion as rape...