O'Reilly, South Dakota and Jessica's Law
Reported by Deborah - March 8, 2006
Bill O'Reilly has spent a lot of time and energy urging states to adopt Jessica's Law and even has a color coded map on his website to let people know which states need to be brought around with citizen intervention. It's interesting to note that South Dakota, colored gray on the map, has not adopted Jessica's Law and and has also banned abortion for victims of rape.
O'Reilly claims to really care about the child victims of violent sexual predators but his energy has been directed to the legal system and the punishment of the rapists. What about the children themselves who need to find a way to recover and reclaim their lives after such a traumatizing experience. What message is South Dakota sending to these kids? What message is Bill O'Reilly sending by ignoring a brutal reality about the South Dakota ban on abortion?
If a young girl has endured the ultimate horror of violent or incestuous rape and then becomes pregnant, South Dakota says she can't terminate the pregnancy. Can anyone imagine what it would be like for this child who would feel like she was being punished and violated again. How could she ever put the experience behind her and live a normal life? What would it be like to carry the child of someone who was responsible for the worst moments of your existance?
The South Dakota Law is heartless but typical of the Pre-Lifer mentality. If Bill O"Reilly really cares about the children hurt by violent sexual crimes, he should speak up against this ban in South Dakota and urge them to allow victims of rape and incest to reclaim their dignity and hope for a normal life as an adult. Unfortunatly it's possible that O'Reilly is more interested in the punishment of the rapist than the recovery of the victim.
