When Rape and Incest are Involved...
             Mary, a nice Italian girl from the Bridgeport area in
             Chicago is raped by her father one night after returning home to find
             him drunk and coming on to her. She learns three weeks later that she
             is pregnant. Completely petrified with nowhere to turn, Mary goes to
             her church. She sits down with her pastor, and he quietly comforts her,
             and tells her it will be all right. She brings up the idea of having an abortion
             and he calmly excuses her from the office without discussing this idea.
             He calls the life beginning to grow inside of her a baby, and claims that
             baby needs not to be killed but to be loved. What should Mary do? She
             is carrying her fathers child and is told that this is OK and must be
             In looking into the opinion the catholic church holds regarding abortions,
             even cases of rape and incest, I have found out that the church is adamantly
             against them. However while researching, I also found some interesting facts
             regarding practicing Catholics and thier views on this topic. Interestingly
             enough, the majority of Catholics that have been questioned on this topic were
             opposed to the church's harsh rules, and thoughts.
             The angle that the church takes is molded from an idea of respect for
             human life.; All human life. "All human beings, from their mother's womb,
             belong to God who searches them and knows them, who forms them and knits
             them together with his own hands, who gazes on them when they are tiny
             shapeless embryos and already sees in them the adults of tomorrow..." (The
             Gospel of Life, #61). This idea suggests that all children are born into god's
             image and are created by god. If this is true than i had to question whether or
             not the Catholic god was an advocate for rape and incestual actions. Helen
             Alvaré believes that: "The more humane and more Christian response to a
             violated mother ...is more love-not...