Dear Congressman King:

I have become aware of your recent statement that you had never heard of anyone who had become pregnant from a rape.

I am sending you a link to an article in Time Magazine regarding a nine-year-old Brazilian girl who was raped by her stepfather and became pregnant. It's hard to imagine a more heinous and disgusting crime, but this case is particularly jarring because of what happened after the assault. The little girl and her mother decided to terminate the pregnancy because their doctor advised them that the girl would not survive the ordeal. Her body was so small that the pregnancy would kill her. When the Church heard of this, the mother and the child's doctor -- both devout Catholics -- were excommunicated.

Apparently, the Church believed it was more important to uphold the doctrine that abortion is a sin than it was to save the little girl's life. (It's not as if the fetuses would have survived anyway.) Ironically, the rapist -- who was arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and incarcerated -- has not been excommunicated.

As a Catholic, you certainly understand Church teaching that only Catholics in good standing are allowed salvation. The Church, in effect, condemned the mother and the doctor to an eternity in hell. What a price to pay for saving the life of a child!

It is my hope that you will consider this terrible story, consult your conscience and your family, and revise your political position accordingly.

Best regards,

C. Colvin
San Francisco

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1883598,00.html

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