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

Download MP3 | 1:38:10

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.

Bio: 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.

Note: There were some major technical difficulties on the day of recording, including some camera issues, so we just used screenshots in place of our cameras for the last bit of the episode.

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?

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. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/confide/

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

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