Students for Life host “Conceived in Rape” talk

The Tulane Students for Life brought anti-abortion advocate Rebecca Kiessling to speak Tuesday at Freeman Auditorium.

Kiessling’s mother was raped in 1968, before abortion was legalized in the United States, which led to her conception. The Supreme Court ruled on the Roe v. Wade case, that legalized abortion on July 22, 1970, Kiessling’s first birthday.
Kiessling began her presentation by talking about her childhood. She was adopted shortly following her birth and learned that she was a child of rape once she received information about her biological parents following her 18th birthday.

“After that, I felt the need to prove to the world that I did not deserve to be aborted,” Kiessling said.

Kiessling discussed her experiences with her biological mother, who initially told her that if abortion had been legal at the time of Kiessling’s conception, she would have had one. Her mother has since changed her mind and is anti-abortion. Kiessling also talked about meeting other anti-abortion advocates, such as Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe in the Roe vs. Wade case.

“Imagine telling a child that,” Kiessling said. Imagine saying, ‘I’m the one. I’m the one who wanted to abort you so badly that I took it all the way to the Supreme Court.’”

Kiessling told stories of conversations with the pro-choice community, that began when she was in law school and continue today. When she was in law school, she was taught by a pro-choice professor who talked about how, during his career, he was instrumental in legalizing abortion in Kentucky. Kiessling took issue with the fact that this professor had a daughter who he had adopted.

She also talked about conversations with people she had met who claimed to be pro-choice, or those whose views on abortion shift in cases of rape.

“Whenever you identify yourself as being ‘pro-choice,’ or whenever you make that exception for rape, what that really translates into is you being able to stand before me, look me in the eye, and say to me, ‘I think your mother should have been able to abort you,’” Kiessling said. “That’s a pretty powerful statement. I would never say anything like that to someone. I would never say to someone, ‘if I had my way, you’d be dead right now.’”

Mary Nadeau, a member of Tulane Students for Life who helped publicize the event, was pleased with the way it turned out and with the discussion that followed.

“I am glad people felt comfortable asking questions,” Nadeau said. “Unless we start talking and asking questions, we’re not going to get anywhere.”

Nadeau felt that Kiessling’s speech was a good example of the Tulane Students for Life mission.

“It was a really good example of why we do what we do. It’s not because we have nothing better to do; it’s because this issue affects living human beings,” Nadeau said. “It’s good to step back because that’s why we do this — because we care about women, we care about children, and if we lose sight of that, what’s the point?”

Junior Reese Zareii works with Tulane’s sexual assault hotline and attended the event to provide an alternate viewpoint about rape and pregnancy. Zarreii said she found the presentation condescending and sickening.

“On the whole, her presentation seemed to do nothing more than rehash typical pro-life sentiments, arguments and superfluous appeals to emotion while also managing to propagate the stigma already experienced by rape survivors by continually referring to the fact that she was conceived in rape,” Zarreii said.

Zarreii said she would still attend future Students for Life events.

“Seeing the atmosphere and language of this presentation as well as the callous conviction with which the speaker and audience addressed the subjects involved was a truly frightening and sickening experience for me,” Zareii said. “I think that makes it all the more important to continue attending such events so that these types of speakers don’t have an unchallenged soapbox or at the very least a critical audience.”

Sophomore Brekke McDowell attended the event to hear a unique perspective regarding rape. McDowell said that prior to the event, she had no idea that Kiessling’s story had anything to do with the abortion debate.

“I consider myself pro-choice and am always interested in hearing an opposing argument. However, I felt that the way she went about proving her argument was completely condescending,” McDowell said. “Abortion is such a prevalent issue in our society and it’s so hard to come to a conclusion because the morality of it is not black and white… her opinion was certainly not formed by an objective reality, but rather by a tragic event. I am not saying that someone should not be allowed to be pro-life; that’s completely their choice. I just don’t think they have the right to tell another woman what she can do with her body.”