#81: The Pregnant 10 Year-Old: Thinking Well About This Tragic Story (with Robin Atkins)

Everyone has been talking about the tragic case of a 10-year-old who was raped, became pregnant, and driven across state lines to get an abortion. Even President Biden referenced her story in public. Multiple ERI followers have asked us how pro-life people can answer questions about this story without sounding like a moral monster.

Josh and Emily invited licensed mental health counselor Robin Atkins to discuss the story with us. Our conversation included the rules regarding public discussion of patient information, particularly in CHINS cases, and the damage done if the rules are violated as well as how pro-life people should talk about this story.

Robin is a licensed mental health counselor, specializing in reproductive issues. She also has a philosophy degree. She spent four years doing home-based therapy with the Department of Children's Services. She's a pro-life advocate with an atypical perspective on some of the issues surrounding abortion.

Related Links:

The source that Robin read from about laws governing confidentiality in CHINS cases:
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2022). Disclosure of confidential child abuse and neglect records. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau.

Reprotection:
https://www.reprotection.org/

ERI Podcast with Reprotection

She Found His Grace Abortion Recovery (Serena Dyksen)
https://www.shefoundhisgrace.org

Book: She Found His Grace: A True Story Of Hope, Love, And Forgiveness After Abortion:
https://amzn.to/3v7TRHv

Responding to 8 Types of Difficult Pro-Lifers (with Monica Snyder & Andrew Kaake - Part 1)

Here are the medical studies we referenced regarding young pregnancies:

Too much too young? Teenage pregnancy is not a public health problem:
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/31/3/552/629768

What's so bad about teenage pregnancy?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12457546/  

Why I Changed My Pro-life Elevator Pitch:
https://bit.ly/3NERrrE

“Abortion is Healthcare”: A Misogynistic Non-Argument:
http://bit.ly/2oYPP5k

ERI resources on responding to the question of rape:
https://blog.equalrightsinstitute.com/rape/

Previous episodes with Robin Atkins: 

A Different Perspective: Adoption vs. Foster Care vs. Abortion:
https://youtu.be/yChl-sReTP0

Mental Health and Informed Consent in Abortion:
https://youtu.be/E4Pn_wf5kSU

A Mental Health Counselor on Psychology in Debate:
https://youtu.be/sZDIVOKJ6hE

Bonus Discussion about Whether Sidewalk Counselors Should EVER Bring Up Adoption:
https://youtu.be/HaUJMcEgpcQ

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Robin and this story

06:23 CHINS cases and why the fact checkers got this story so wrong

35:14 Can abortion treat the trauma of rape?

53:31 Examining an apparent contradiction in what Robin said about how Ohio treats these crimes

57:36 Is it actually more physically dangerous when a young person is pregnant?

1:19:02 How should abortion laws treat a situation where a doctor claims that their patient has a life-threatening pregnancy?  

1:27:26 How should pro-life people talk about cases like this?

Disclosure: The book above is an Amazon affiliate link. This means that, at zero cost to you, ERI will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.