These rape victims and their children are “exceptions” to pro-life laws and deserve to be heard

In their effort to win re-election this year, the Biden team is using the story of a young rape survivor turned abortion advocate to bolster their rigorous support for abortion for any reason – not just the “hard cases” or “exceptions.”

Hadley Duvall of Owensboro, Kentucky, was tragically raped by her stepfather as a young child, resulting in a pregnancy at age 12 that ended in miscarriage. Now Duvall is using her story of abuse to advocate for abortion alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.

Duvall and Harris recently spoke in an exclusive interview with MSNBC. While both have made many inflammatory statements in favor of abortion, perhaps the most egregious is one Duvall previously made while campaigning for current Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. At the time, she claimed, “Anyone who believes there shouldn’t be exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it’s like to be in my shoes.”

Duvall’s words reveal a lack of awareness of the feelings of many other victims of violence; it is essentially a slap in the face both to victims of violence who have chosen to save their children’s lives and to the children themselves who were conceived through rape. It implies that abortion is the only logical option for rape victims and tells the children of these victims that they not survived to be born.

Below are just a few of the survivors who have have been in Duvall’s shoes but resisted the pressure to kill their children and chose life instead. Although their stories are different, they all have one thing in common: overwhelming gratitude that they (or their mothers) decided to choose life.

Lianna Rebolledo

At the age of 12, Lianna Rebolledo was kidnapped from a shopping mall, raped by two men and left for dead. Despite pressure to abort her child, the result of the rape, she resisted.

“Just knowing that I had my little girl helped me. It helped me heal, and I just knew that my daughter had a purpose in life,” she said in an interview with Live Action President and Founder Lila Rose. “And she gave me the strength to keep going. She gave me hope. She showed me what true love is, and because of her, I am who I am now.”

Rebolledo is now focused on teaching others that “abortion is not a solution if you have been raped.”

“(An abortion) doesn’t help you. It’s just a double rape. That’s what I imagined it would be, a double rape. And if I had done that, I probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

Crystal Willis

Crystal Willis was raped at age 14 and chose to save her daughter’s life – even as she was driven to an abortion clinic. Willis later gave the baby up for adoption.

“My daughter knows she is a gift from God. I tell her that every chance I get,” said Crystal. “She looks just like ME and when I see her smile, I see how good God is and how he turned this bad experience into something beautiful!”

It also conveys a message of hope for women who have been raped and who may be discouraged by the message that abortion is their only option.

“I stand for the lives of women and girls who are so often left alone, abandoned, dirty and feeling like they just can’t make it. In our society, they have been told all their lives that rape makes them dirty and that pregnancy is unthinkable. But the sins of the father are not the sins of the child – any more than my sins are yours or vice versa. If rapists don’t even get the death penalty (it is considered too harsh), why should unborn human babies be sentenced to death for the crimes of rapists?”

Kathy Barnette

Author and television/radio commentator Kathy Barnette learned as a young woman that her mother was only 11 years old when she was raped. Despite her young age, Barnette’s mother gave birth to her And raised her.

“As a child, I knew nothing different. I was loved, and I felt loved. It gave me a greater appreciation for my mother,” Barnette said in an interview with Live Action. “It helped me forgive a lot of the mistakes that someone of that age who had lived through that kind of trauma would have made in their own parenting. But it definitely made me very adamant about the sanctity of life, all life, regardless of how it was conceived… My life has meaning.”

Barnette’s mother also spoke to Live Action about the decision to choose life. “Regardless of how the child was conceived, that child deserves a chance. And if I had made that decision, where would I be now without my daughter?”

Kathy Folan

Kathy Folan was in her third year of college when she was raped and became pregnant in 1990. She decided to keep her baby, whom she named Nathan, and gave him up for adoption. This decision led to the wonderful relationship she has today.

“When I look back at what my birth mother went through to give me life, I am amazed at her courage and the sacrifices she was willing to make,” Nathan told Live Action.

“The biggest misconception about abortion after rape is that it will cure the woman of the rape… But what would really happen is that you would be living not only with the trauma of rape, but also with the trauma of having destroyed a human being,” Folan explained.

“Out of darkness comes beauty, and Nathan is the beauty that came out of that darkness.”

Steven Holland

Steventhen Holland would not be here today if his mother had not chosen life after being exposed to a gang of rapists. Despite having only the mental capacity of an 11-year-old and no support or resources, she knew her child deserved a chance at life. Adopted as a toddler, Holland did not discover his past and his birth mother’s bravery until he came to her on a quest as an adult.

“I realized it was a miracle that I was alive,” he told Live Action News. “My mother chose to live despite not being able to care for me. It was a great act of love to let me go so I could have a chance to thrive.”

Today he tells his story to advocate for the rights of unborn children who are at risk of abortion due to the circumstances of their conception.

“I can never stay silent,” Holland said. “I must be faithful and share my testimony with the doubters, especially those who believe abortion is acceptable in cases of incest and rape. I shouldn’t be here, but a woman who was homeless, unemployed and mentally disabled chose life. If she can overcome the most difficult circumstances, I believe others can, too.”

These five stories are far from the only ones of people who have courageously chosen life. In fact, at least three studies have shown that the majority of pregnant rape victims choose life without regret.

Live Action News has published several of these stories, from both rape victims and people conceived through rape, such as Ryan Bomberger, Robyn McLean, Patti Harrison, Ashley Boyer, Paula Peyton, Tricia Allen, Jane Moore, Emily and others. Each and every one of these situations is a story of courage, hope, love and resilience – the opposite of an abortion movement that claims the death of an innocent human life is the best way forward.

The Justice Department put a pro-life activist in prison for protesting the killing of unborn children. Please take 30 seconds to tell Congress: STOP THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FROM TARGETTING AMERICANS WHO CHOOSE TO LIFE.