Persons conceived through rape speak to The Daily Caller News Foundation, explaining why their lives matter and why their mothers chose not to abort them.

Rebecca Kiessling, Patti Smith and Ryan Scott Bomberger respond to critics of restrictive abortion legislation banning abortions even in cases of rape and incest.

Their stories follow the recent introduction of restrictive abortion legislation in Georgia and Alabama.



These adults conceived through rape want lawmakers to know that their lives, and the lives of all babies conceived through rape, are worthy of protection as pro-choice advocates say laws should permit abortions in cases of rape or incest.

Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Ohio have enacted abortion legislation in the past year, causing pro-choice advocates to speak out in an uproar of protests. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama abortion legislation. (RELATED: These Are The States That Have Passed Pro-Life Abortion Bills This Year)

But Rebecca Kiessling, a woman conceived through a brutal sexual attack on her mother, claims that lawmakers should punish rapists and not babies.

Kiessling is the founder and president of Save the 1, an organization dedicated to educate the public on saving the 1% of aborted babies conceived through rape.

“I was conceived when my birthmom was abducted at knifepoint by a serial rapist,” Kiessling told TheDCNF, explaining that her mother attempted to have illegal abortions twice.

“I was almost killed,” Kiessling said. “She backed out because it was illegal and fear for her own safety. Pro-choice when we met, she made it clear she would have aborted me if it had been legal.”

But Kiessling’s mother is no longer pro-choice. “Six years later she changed her ‘choice.’ Now, 30 years since we met, we are both thankful we were both protected from the horror of abortion.”

Kiessling wants lawmakers to know that their arguments against the lives of babies conceived in rape are dehumanizing and demoralizing to her — a woman who would not be here if her mother had not chosen life.