Media

Country music star’s mother chose adoption instead of abortion after “traumatic first date”

Rodney Atkins at a concert. Photo credit: Bodyguard2011 on Flickr

In 2006, Rodney Atkins was named Top New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music. Several of his most popular songs – “If You’re Going Through Hell,” “Cleaning This Gun,” “These Are My People,” and “It’s America” – have topped country music charts. Just last year, Atkins released his fastest-rising single yet, “Take a Back Road.”

Many would say that Atkins has a natural gift with the guitar. As his CMT biography puts it, he didn’t even “get his first guitar until one Christmas in high school.” Regardless of the late start, “he took to the instrument instantly and was soon playing anywhere he could around his Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, home.” Since he discovered his talent, Rodney Atkins has been giving back to the world and to country music-lovers everywhere.

But perhaps the greatest gift Atkins has given is one that he himself was given as a baby: the gift of life. In an October 2011 article, Great American Country reported the singer’s story:

A sickly child, he was born with a respiratory infection and given up for adoption. While living in a small-town orphanage, Rodney was adopted by loving parents Allan and Margaret Atkins and raised in Harrogate, Tennessee. Rodney has never talked about his birth mother before, until now. He shared with the Associated Press that he met her in 2008, after becoming the spokesman for the National Council for Adoption.

It’s clear that Atkins is very grateful that his mother gave him a chance at life. She did something that was difficult for her, but for the best for him. Out of a painful situation, she created beauty.

Rodney says his birth mother got pregnant at 19 after what he described as a traumatic first date. She hid the pregnancy from her family and chose to give him up for adoption.

“I just wanted to tell her thank you, because she had some other alternatives to end that situation,” he tells AP. “I might not be here. So you don’t want to take it for granted. She kept saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I kept saying, ‘Thank you.’”

Indeed, Atkins has not been taking the gift he was given for granted. He has used his platform as a country musician to step into the role of a spokesman for the National Council for Adoption. He has chosen to speak out so that other children might be given the same chance he was given and so that other mothers might make the same sacrifice that his made. In the AP article, Atkins recognized his birth mother’s courage and said that he could never give back to her as much as she gave to him.

In addition, Atkins has used his music career to raise $5,000,000 for the children’s home he lived at before his adoption. His own website tells about his involvement in the lives of the home’s needy children:

[H]e was surprised to find out the home had been re-named in his honor.

“It’s a real dream come true, working with the National Adoption Council and hosting the home,” he said. “We started out trying to get music instruments for the kids, just as a distraction for them. It’s become something else completely.”

Something just as important as recording music and inspiring others to see through the hard times. For Atkins, his American dream will continue on through the lives of the children that come out of the Rodney Atkins Youth Home.

Rodney Atkins exemplifies the kind of entertainers we need today. He knows that his fame is not just about him. He has chosen to use his platform in a way that betters the lives of many children. He has chosen to give the gifts of hope and life – gifts that he knows all too well are priceless to a child.

Atkins’ thoughts on adoption were included in a devotional from Birthmother Ministries. He says, “It’s a world of ‘self’ out there. Adoption has to be some form of service where people put another individual before themselves.” Atkins also explains part of his own motivation to make a difference and give the gift of life. “People really need to be honest and ask themselves, ‘What … am I doing to make a difference? Are you living, dying and then gone, or did you do something meaningful with your life?”

Last November, Rodney Atkins recorded a public service announcement for the National Adoption Council. You can watch it below:

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Heathef Dorr

What an amazing story. Thank you to all of the birthmothers out there. You are so special.
Garth Newell

Great work Kristi, keep it up. Maybe someday soon we’ll rid the world of the evil practice of abortion.
Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth

“Traumatic first date?” Why can’t you pony up and call it what it was? RAPE! How horrible of him, and pro-lifers in general, to reduce the hell of what women go through in a sexual assault. You will never, ever end the practice of abortion unless you end the practice of rape first. Since the Xtians have not even managed to make a dent in sexual assault, abortion will not end, will not ever end, now that we have the internet and free exchange of information. We will do whatever it takes to end unwanted pregnancies, and there is nothing you can do about it. Get over it. The only way you will ever get women to stop aborting is to engineer a way for men to not want to have sex with women. Good luck with that one.
This whole story is all about Atkins and how happy he is to be here, how courageous his birth other was, yada yada yada. Not a word at how he feels about his father being a rapist. How about being all grateful to his Dad for spreading his seed? I mean, it is the most primal manner in which to spread your genetics around. Not a word about the shape his mom is in now- which statistically, she has probably suffered through horrible relationships and is abusing alcohol or drugs in some way. (Statistically, victims of sexual assault turn to chemicals as a way to dull the pain, and they cannot trust)
That poor woman. Al the poor women out there who were victims of men not being able to act human, all the victims of men who used their strength t get what they want. The two inch potential baby does not outweigh that woman’s right to get on with her life and not be forced to carry her rapist’s child. Oh, and let me remind you people- pregnancy and childbieth can kill women. It still kills. I know you want to pretend it’s happy snshine and rainbows with 1950′s style male doctors safely delivering babies, but pregnancy kills and maims.
- Rhonda
  
  You really don’t get it–you weren’t there, you don’t know what happened, you haven’t met the birthmom–if she or Rodney choose to use the phrase “traumatic first date”, who are you to shame them? If it was rape, as is implied, then yes, she was extremely brave to choose life for the child who was not to blame and he is right to be grateful. He wasn’t a “potential” baby, he was a pre-born baby. Are you going to tell me that I’m wrong for having grieved the loss of my pre-born children? That’s just another form of assault and you are just as guilty as any rapist.
  - Jenny
    
    His mother is not quoted as using that term – he is. Sometimes rape victims (especially from her era, when there was more shame and stigma and silence around rape) use terms to distance themselves from the horror of what happened, but that is entirely different from a man referring to his mother’s sexual assault as a “traumatic first date.” I agree that it is extremely offensive and exploitative. Date rape used to be called “a bad date” as a way to minimize and trivialize sexual violence against women, and I see this as no different. I believe in choice in every situation involving pregnancy, and as long as his birth mother wasn’t coerced or guilted into keeping the pregnancy, I support her choice. I don’t know the situation, but I agree with the other poster that the term “traumatic first date” is a horrifying way to describe what happened to his mother. If my mother had gone through something that terrible I would never use it as a way to promote my beliefs or causes. Frankly, this man seems very selfish, and Rhonda, you saying that the poster is as guilty as a rapist shows that you too minimize rape. No one is saying you were wrong to grieve your loss – the key is choice and not telling other women how they need to feel about their pregnancies. There is a whole movement of “pro-lifers” who are trying to force women to keep pregnancies that resulted from rape, and using words like “traumatic first date” is just one way to manipulate public opinion.
    - Kristiburtonbrown
      
      Ok, hold on a minute Jenny and first poster. You are obviously assuming exactly what “traumatic first date” means without talking to anyone involved in the situation. I would also guess that that means rape, but we don’t need to jump to conclusions. More importantly, for all you and I know, Atkins’ mom may have used that exact language with him (since, as you said, women back then didn’t tend to be very open about exactly what happened to them). Furthermore, there’s no way a newspaper could interview her because her identity is private. Goodness, have a little respect for people’s private lives instead of insisting they explain what happened to them in the exact same terms you would. You have absolutely no idea what language his mother used with him. If you had the facts, that would be one thing. But you’re guessing. Also, I would think you could appreciate the fact that when he spoke, he talked about the courage of his mother and how grateful he was for what she did. He never minimized what happened to his mother. She is the one who kept saying she was sorry to him, and he kept repeating how grateful he was.
      - Oedipa
        
        C’mon, Ms. Brown, we can read between the lines. “Difficult” pregnancies are the new badge of honor in your movement whether it’s a congenitally problematic pregnancy (see Trig Palin, Tim Tebow) or the result of sexually assault (see Ms. Bandadas’s manifesto, Mr. Atkins).
        
        If you wanted to write a piece about a nice country singer advocating for adoption, what’s with the headline?
      - Kristiburtonbrown
        
        Lol, sometimes your comments amuse me =). What’s with the headline? The headline is illustrating the fact that Atkins’ mother chose adoption over abortion even in a traumatic situation.
    - ken624
      
      I am sick of people like you and first poster saying people like me, “product of rape” shouldn’t be alive, who do you think you are. Do you realize the “choice” you are advocating is the choice to Kill or not to kill. I will always be grateful my mother placed me in a good adoptive home and every chance I get I tell her thank you I could never repay her for her courage and she even calls me every once in a while to see how I’m doing, I’m glad she has a good caring heart.
    - StaceyR
      
      I was assaulted in my apartment while my son slept in the next room. I have no problem discussing rape when it involves others, but I still refer to mine as “the incident”. I don’t find his description offensive, exploitative or anyone else’s business. it is what it is. some people get loud, obnoxious and in everyone’s face about their rape. Some choose to discuss it in a quieter, less in your face manor. There are all kinds of ways that people grieve, deal and overcome what they go through. Respect should be shown in whatever way people choose to do it or are capable of dealing with it. Maybe, just maybe, this guy chooses to focus on the selflessness of his mother’s choice rather than the selfishness of his father’s and that is entirely up to him. Maybe his mother asked him not to discuss it and he was respecting her wishes. At any rate, no one but his most intimate friends and loved ones really know, and that is there prerogative to keep it that way.
    - Rhonda
      
      I stand by what I say–you weren’t there, you don’t know what language was used….and you all assume that it *must* have been rape and condemn Mr. Atkins for his use of the phrase “traumatic first date”. If it was rape, and if he knows it, you still assume much to condemn him for this choice of words, for all you or I know he *is* echoing his birth mother’s words.
      For you to accuse *me* of minimizing rape is painful, since I have suffered through the after effects of sexual assault, by two men I should have been able to trust. I have counseled many women who have suffered through the whole spectrum of sexual molestation, from inappropriate touch to violent rape with foreign objects. I know full well what it is to deal with it. I also know that if it were my mother, I would be tenderly concerned with *her* sensibilities and not use her experience as a platform for my agenda without her full support.
      It is literally painful to me to have someone minimize a pre-born baby’s worth by justifying abortion in any circumstance. Have you held your 9 week unborn child in your hand after having already miscarried several times before? If you haven’t, you have NO idea of the pain, and how it feels just as much of an assault on me to have someone minimize the worth of that tiny child as it did when I was molested. If you aren’t walking the path of Mr. Atkins birth mother, you have no idea what happened and how she has dealt with the pain and the shame and the loss. Rape is never justified, not ever….and neither is the killing of an unborn child.
    - Erplun1996
      
      Jenny I’m sorry but I think you are wrong. The pro-life movement, as I see it and believe, is about empowering women and men. We want them to see that they have the power within themselves to raise their children or to place their children for adoption. I personally feel that there are far more women and men that have been pressured to HAVE an abortion than to NOT HAVE an abortion. It is the knee-jerk response to want to discard a “problem” and unfortunately child, more specifically babies, are viewed as problems. Pro-Abortion and Pro-Choice advocates, I believe, are selling fear and misunderstanding. They are shouting out, “You can’t do this. You can’t be a mother. Get rid of the problem. That fetus is a problem.” Whereas the Pro-lifers are shouting out, “You can do this. There is help. Life will go on. Your baby and you are meant for more.”
      Rape is awful and is not to be simplified. Yet, there is life after rape. We cannot live in fear of everything, especially our own children.
- Ken
  
  Sexual assault is horrific and we all need to work to end it, both Christians and non-Christians. Saying that people who are pro-life don’t grieve over this, is just not the case. Rodney’s mother should be praised for the courage to keep her baby not treated dismissively.. If she did what you suggest (“We will do whatever it takes to end unwanted pregnancies, and there is nothing you can do about it. Get over it.”), Rodney Atkins would not be here today. Really?
  
  Also, rape only accounts for 1% or less of abortions, so the issue of abortion is not just about rape. Additionally many rape victims who had an abortion have said that it was like being violated a second time and many of those that did not choose to abort the baby were glad that they didn’t, as difficult as it was dealing with the whole situation.
  
  What’s needed is more compassion and I can only hope that we all will learn to be more compassionate. Please open your heart. Rodney’s mom did for him and he is doing the same for her and so many others.
- RufusChoate
  
  Interestingly 10 out of 10 sane people prefer the most miserable life over being dead and a traumatic first date doesn’t mean Rape or anything else. The Mother chose the euphemism for what ever happen and you extrapolated it to fit your vile and bizarre world view that makes every human interaction a grotesque power dynamic that must end in the death of an innocent to appease your blood thirsty Baal of feminist irrationality .
  - Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth
    
    I love it when homeschooled people who attempt to write poetically.
    Also, I work in social services and let me tell you, there are plenty of children under age ten who wish they were dead and try to commit suicide. I know you will blame it on them not having Jesus in their lives, but rather, it’s mothers who give a child life but not the means to provide a healthy life. In his book, Dave Peltzer wishes he were aborted. So your very first sentence is a lie, a complete lie.
    - RufusChoate
      
      Home Schooled? Not quite. Again I said sane people not morbidly narcissistic personalities who can’t figure out either their gender identity from the biology or their limits and want to be appreciated and loved by drawing attention to themselves by self slaughter.
      
      Cowardice and avoiding life and responsiblity by murder either oneself or your unborn child isn’t a virtue
      - Oedipa
        
        Boy, Rufus, 328 comments on the Daily Caller? If you’re getting your “schooling” from the Tucker Carlson’s sad descent into muck-rake journalism, it’s even worse for you than Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth initially thought.
      - RufusChoate
        
        I am not being schooled by anyone but especially not a dullard of your caliber.
      - Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth
        
        Ah, well that explains a great deal.Enjoy your fanciful use of outmoded English verbage! Huzzah!
      - RufusChoate
        
        Dullard is outmoded? How sad for you to have your life’s work amount to being outmoded. Why do I suspect that you are Oedipa is it because you can’t distinguish between the comments directed at one or the other?
      - 12angry_men
        
        I’ve been here a lot longer than you buddy, and they are two different people. You know why people resort to the language you are using? Because they have nothing of meaningful substance to say. Good day.
      - RufusChoate
        
        You’re a self important cretin with 174 comments and 124 positive votes. You’re clearly an intellect giant among hominids but you’re running with the Homo Sapiens now chimpy so man up.
      - Jdjdjeeeeerrrryyy
        
        Hahahaha! Ohhh man…we’ve got a guy with an ego as big as the moon up in here! But seriously, you need to work on your people skills. I shake my head and sigh at the pompous nature that oozes from your comments. Now shoo fly, don’t bother me.
      - RufusChoate
        
        English is apparently your second language after simpleminded gibberish but I can fault you just because of the extra chromasome. If your goal is to insult people try learning to think and communicate clearer or have an adult write it for you.
        
        Of course you want to shoo me away after you opted to comment but you’ll be my special little project for the next couple of days. So sit back and enjoy… Jdjdjeeeeerrrryyy it is going to hurt.
      - Jdjdjeeeeerrrryyy
        
        Just so you know, threatening people over the internet does not make you look tough. If you really want to take on a special project I suggest you dedicate some of your time to helping others. Personally, I volunteer at a battered women’s shelter and I can tell you that it turns my attitude around whenever I am feeling sullen or moody. You could definitely benefit from that.
      - RufusChoate
        
        How childish of you to believe that you’re significant enough to be threatened by anyone. You’re pathetic and self important but for some reason I doubt you do anything like you claim. You went looking for trouble by interjecting you banal nonsense and now you believe you’re the offended party.
      - Jdjdjeeeeerrrryyy
        
        Rufus, if you actually thought I was being serious in my first post, well…then I can’t help you. Who actually uses shoo fly don’t bother me as an insult? It’s a reference to a children’s song for cryin out loud. And the oozes part was a reference to an article written here about the blood of innocent babies oozing out of pro choicers. But I guess you haven’t commented here long enough to know that. Sigh…people should allow themselves to laugh every now and then, it’s proven to be a healthy bodily function.
      - 12angry_men
        
        Oh Rufus, you’re always good for a laugh. You must be having a hard week, but don’t worry things will get better! Once you brighten that attitude of yours the whole world will be your oyster.
    - http://twitter.com/CalFreiburger Calvin Freiburger
      
      Frankly, it terrifies me to see that social services apparently employ people who (a) make snap judgments about complete strangers being homeschoolers and simplistic Jesus freaks (both of which are apparently things to be sneered at in your eyes), and (b) seem to think the answer to children feeling unwanted is to snuff them out in the womb.
    - RufusChoate
      
      Note to highly successful “Social Services” “Worker” (another euphemism for government parasite). The operative word was sane.
      
      Homeschooler? Not really but one of the 1% yes.
      - Oedipa
        
        I’ve been told the parasite euphemism really sets off the pro-life crowd (as in, the embryo is a parasite). So I give you a A+ in crassness, right-wingery, and anti-public worker douchebaggery for turning the metaphor on its head.
      - RufusChoate
        
        Let me guess you like “Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth” are also living off the permanent underclass by debasing them even further when you miss the chance to murder them.
        
        Parasite is the correct term for the lowest sector of the economy in productivity, effectiveness and highest in cost to the entire society.
    - Erplun1996
      
      I’ve read that series of books and as I recall as an adult he no longer felt that way. A lot of children do feel lost and at times want to die. That is not because of a lack of faith it is because of mental illness and the result of their life circumstances. Do you look at those children daily and shake your head, smirk and say to them “Yeah I wish you were dead too. Your Mom really screwed up by giving birth to you.”? I have been a foster parent and I am an adoptive parent. I’ve also worked doing street outreach with the homeless and at a children’s hospital helping families apply for assistance. Trying to justify your disturbing views because of your work does not compute. Not to mention that again you’ve bashed another group of people, those that are home schooled. Heaven forbid a parent CHOOSES to spend one on one time with their child educating them. Can’t win with you. If you don’t love your children you such and if you love your children you suck. Is there anything that you care about? I feel so sorry for you that you are so callous and black hearted.
    - Kimberly
      
      Please don’t talk about suicide if you don’t personally have a loved one going through it. My little sister is 15, we give her EVERYTHING possible nd its not enough, so you fall short on the suicide line.
      
      Dave is a happy man now, so… irrevalance.
      
      And so what you said sounds like “because not every mother is a good one, kill everybody.”
      
      If you’re prochoice, proabortion, profeminist, promovement, proIjustwanttohaveasay that’s fine, but respect those who still have heart and can’t live with a murdered child on their shoulders.
      
      My sister is a social worker, she’s prolife. Your career should be the reason you want to help those children, not just kill unborn ones.
- Guest321
  
  Wow talk about a lot of hate coming from you. You claim to be for women, but instead you show complete disrespect and loathing for a women who chooses to have her child rather than kill it. Rodney was just as much his mothers child as the man who got her pregnant. Rodney obviously has respect for his mother and the gift of life she gave him. Do you respect mothers, because it sure doesn’t sound like it considering your attacks on motherhood and pregnancy. Let’s face it, he and other prolifers have done more for women and children than any of you pro-death, I mean pro-choicers, ever will.
- Tim
  
  After reading that whole article….thats all you can say? Very heartless indeed. And dont go on another speech about women’s rights. You already have rights
- Tim
  
  Why must you have such a heartless attitude towards this article and think pro life people are bad? Doesnt pro-life mean “PRO HUMAN BEING!” And again, as mentioned earlier, dont base your argument on 1% of the population. Yes, rape victims need to be given attention, but your argument cannot sustain itself to prove pregnancy is all around bad. And most people who get an abortion are NOT RAPE VICTIMS.
  
  Most people who want an abortion are already born….interesting. Anyways, in a world like today, there are infinite ways to support a good family. so dont go saying pregnancy is a burden and all that nonsense. You seem very uneducated about this fact. Dont be selfish and try to turn an event all about you
  
  Thank you and Ill pray for you
  - Tim
    
    And crazy woman (Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth..yada yada yada whatever), Rodney Atkins is a true leader because he learned to forgive people. Take note on his actions and do the same thing
  - Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth
    
    You are so right. Please give me your name and address, and the prostitute with ten abused and neglected children will show up on your doorstep, and you can school her. Don’t forget to school her 11 and 13 year old daughters, all pregnanct by her tricks. They need your help too. And enjoy getting your FICA bill which includes the 3.2 million dollars Medicaid has spent so far on the several premature, sickly babies she has produced.
    - Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth
      
      I’d also like to point out she gets roughly $3300 a month in SSI payments for the kids she has produced, yet still can’t manage to feed and clothe them. She really needs your advice! Act soon!
      - Erplun1996
        
        That is an awfully specific number “$3300.00″. Is your opinion tainted by someone that you know? The venom that you are spitting out does not seem to suit the article that was written. You are attacking EVERYONE that isn’t you. Duggars, Bates, those on SSI, those on Medicaid, those that are Christians, prostitutes, sick children, Pro-Life advocates, etc. etc. What is wrong with you?
    - Erplun1996
      
      So every woman that has an abortion would have been a prostitute and her daughters would be whores? I thought that Pro-Choice women also considered themselves to sway towards the Democrat party which supports entitlement programs such as Medicaid. Again it seems that you are only Pro-Choice when it is the choice that you’d make. Heaven forbid that you or someone you love gives birth to a premature and/or sickly child and applies for assistance in any form. Wow!
- GiselleN
  
  Whoa, so why is it Christians responsibility to stop rape? Last time I checked that is a societal and law enforcement issue. You’re right: rape is unlikely to be eliminated anytime soon just like all the other things that are already illegal such as murder, stealing, illegal drug use and child abuse. But that shouldn’t stop us from making laws to make them illegal. The same holds true for abortion; if abortion were made illegal again there still would be women who would get abortions, but the number of abortions would be vastly reduced.
  
  Some people like to argue that abortion should be legal because of the rare cases in which a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape or in this case “a traumatic first date.” First of all, before Roe vs. Wade many states already had laws which made abortion in light of rape, mothers health or incest legal (not that I agree with that mind you.) Second, a baby or child should not be sentenced to death for the sins of their father or mother, which is the essence of abortion because of rape. This man is innocent of the crime his father committed as are all children who are the result of rape. I have actually seen some people say that babies who are the result of rape SHOULD be aborted because they will result in more rapists! That logic is absurd. If that were the case every child whose parents committed a crime would end up committing the same crimes as their parents.
  
  You’re right, men like to have sex with women, but most NORMAL men have no interest in raping a woman, so to say that a drive for sex equates to the drive for rape is false. If you want to make some claim that rape would increase if abortion were made illegal in all cases, you would have to somehow prove that rape was more prevalent before abortion was widespread – good luck with that.
  
  On the comment that pregnancy is dangerous for women, all I can say is you really think that pregnancy and child birth is more dangerous than getting an abortion? Abortion is more dangerous because the people performing the abortions will do anything to conceal the fact that they botched an abortion, even if that means risking the life of the mother. Also, I have seen this strange mentality that seems to treat pregnancy as some kind of disease. How in the world could something as natural as creating a new human being be a disease? For thousands of years woman were held in high regard for their fertility and ability to create new life, and this weird form of feminism you seem to hold likes to attack that. It just boggles my mind anyone would fight for women’s rights on one hand and on the other hand say treat motherhood as a disease. It’s fine if a woman decides that motherhood isn’t for her, but those goals can be reached without causing the death of babies.
  - Ispeakabouthimwithmymouth
    
    Abortion may be reduced, if it were illegal, but the number of women maimed and killed by back alley abortions would skyrocket, along with suicides. However, the rate of abortion has dropped wonderfully with the increased infiltration of birth control education. But you think that is bad too- you live under this bizarre notions that telling teenagers how to control birth is a bad thing! You live under this bizarre notion that telling teenagers not to have sex will, you know, help them to not have sex. Ha. Abstinence-educated Christian teens have a higher unintended birth rate than birth control educated non-Christians.
    http://voices.yahoo.com/the-just-say-no-approach-abstinence-only-programs-4538813.html
    
    For thousands of years women were held in high regard for their fertility? Really? What planet are you ON? You need only study a wee bit of history or look at undeveloped nations to see how women and infants were, or are, treated. http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1989-0/haller.htmOr google baby farms to see how important babies were in pre-abortion Victorian England. That’s right- your dream time of chivalry and tea drinking is rife with rape, women dying in the gutters, and babies fed to pigs. The only women that whose fertility was revered was the women who were needed to produce male heirs, and those hat didn’t were beheaded. In the time of abortion, children are treated better (we have protective services) women are held in higher regard ( we can vote and own property now) and we need no longer bear children when a rapist strikes. As far as pregnancy- yes, It can kill. Ever hear of pre-eclampsia, placental abruption, uterine rupture, maternal diabetes, etc? These are all conditions linked to pregnancy and pregnancy only . They only happen to pregnant women. So no, I feel that a woman should not be subjected to the risk of death for the sake of a rapists’ two inch fetus. Pregnancy is not a disease, but it does CAUSE disease, at a rate much higher than a safe, legal abortion. Pregnancy is hard on a woman’s body. I know you think that these Duggars and Bates are a Christian’s wet dream ( A woman that is dealing with that many children is too tired for silly things like politics or education) but just because a man has legs does not mean he should be running a 100 miles a day. Likewise, a woman should not be bearing children every year- Sure, the iron uterus of Michelle has been OK, but most women have serious pelvic floor issues after baby number eight. Not to mention the mental strain of caring and supporting for that many children.
    - Erplun1996
      
      The more of your posts I read the more disturbed I am. Saying, “ I know you think that these Duggars and Bates are a Christian’s wet dream” is not only offensive but disgusting. I’m curious if you’ve ever had children? How dare you judge and or assume that Michelle Duggar is uneducated or does not have her own political views. I assumed that pro-choice women were all about strengthening women. Instead you’ve condemned women that have enjoyed being pregnant, giving birth and raising children. How anti-woman can you be? How does the amount of children a women CHOOSES to have effect you? I thought you were all about Choice Choice Choice. Obviously you do not like the “Choice” unless it is a choice you approve of.
  - Leiapeison
    
    no those goals CANNOT be reached because adoption is not for everybody. no way i would have a child of mine walking the earth. women were held in high regard? are you kidding me?!?!? women were CONTROLLED by their fertility and still are in countries where it is illegal. abortion more dangerous? gimme a break. so are people who do births more dangerous because they might die in childbirth? and yes it is christians responsibility to stop rape because they are part of the human race and the human race as a whole is responsible to stop it. and if any group of people should be fighting rape it should be people in your camp. but you guys arnt. we pro choicers are
    - liveaction
      
      So you would rather kill your child than have a couple you could pick out who would love and care for your child have them? Because it’s uncomfortable for you? Pro-lifers are very much against rape, and some of us do fight against it actively. If we want to talk about what people should be fighting for, pro-choicers should be fighting for each innocent person’s “choice” to live and be born.
- Sarah
  
  “Traumatic first date” can mean other thing too like a one night stand and maybe she felt guilty for having it. Unlike you she has a conscience and when she does wrong she has shame…unlike you, you murderer! Not all men rape so quit judging the whole gender. Sounds like you need to find a good man who actually loves you but that can’t/won’t happen as long as that hatred and bitterness hangs over you.
- Erplun1996
  
  I’m sorry but there is truly something wrong with you. Abortion destroys women’s lives just as rape does. Rape is awful, absolutely awful. However, abortion due to rape accounts for 1% of all abortions performed. Outside of rape, if you do not want to have a child then keep your pants on. Simple. Yes pregnancy can come with fatal consequences. So can walking down the street and eating a sandwich. Does that mean that we should throw away all sandwiches and dig up all the streets because we might die. No that is ridiculous.
  This article is merely pointing out that this woman was able to carry on with her pregnancy despite the trauma from whatever happened, (because there were no specifics mentioned). She is proof that life can go on and that you can overcome what you would think is impossible. Her son is proof that children to appreciate their lives when they find that they were potentially killed by abortion. I know that my children’s birthmothers did not think that they could carry their children and then place them for adoption. My son’s birthmother was 48 hours away from aborting him. Yet she had the strength that all human beings possess, and she exercised that strength.
  You are right, rape will never go away. Men and woman alike will continue to take advantage of each sexually in all of the variations rape takes. Yet, we can show these women and men that life does go on. That life can have meaning again. It is not the fault of the child that they were conceived. Why should their life be taken from them because of nothing other than fear of the unknown. We are all strong enough to take one what life shoves at us. Organizations like Planned Parenthood steal that belief in oneself. They sell lies and fear. Think of all the things you’ve been through in your life. You’ve survived it all. You are stronger and wiser because of it. We can get through anything. We may not want to. But, people like Rodney Atkin’s mother are a prime example that we can make it through.
- Pachecano_675
  
  If she was “raped,” and able to see her child wasn’t just a “bad seed” and deserved to live, why is that such a problem? What if your father had been a rapist’s? Would you not be worthy of life? Think throughly before spreading your hate, ignorance is common and often filled with your thinking ways.
Oedipa

Agree with the posters, below. His choice of the words “traumatic first date” is a cop-out. Not sure why LA chose to use it in its headline.

My mother-in-law has a “traumatic first date” long ago, only she didn’t call it that, she called it “rape”. Her mother coerced her into keeping the child and even marrying the @#$%*. In a fit of resentment my mother-in-law named her daughter after the woman forced her into that misery. I think of my mother-in-law’s story as a test case. Two kids with a rapist: one died of AIDS as a drug addict and street hustler, the other is mentally unbalanced living on welfare somewhere on the west coast. Four kids later with a loving husband: one’s a cop, one’s a politician, one’s a CPA, one’s in college.
EmKay87

Great article! I think Rodney Atkins is a good guy. However, after reading some of these cranky comments, I am shocked that no one has mention how Rodney was arrested at the end of last year for allegedly trying to smother his wife with a pillow. He was later cleared of all charges and he has since filed for divorce. Now he is being hated on for being pro life and referring to a likely rape which resulted in his birth in the wrong way.Poor guy can’t catch a break.:)
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