Rebecca Kiessling

Rebecca Kiessling
Kiessling in 2016
Born (1969-07-22) July 22, 1969
Residence Michigan[1]
Nationality American
Occupation
  • Activist
  • public speaker
Known for Anti-abortion activism
Spouse(s)
Robert Kiessling (m. 1998)
Children 5
Website rebeccakiessling.com

Rebecca Kiessling (born July 22, 1969)[1] is an American anti-abortion activist and attorney. Her advocacy is focused toward criminalizing abortion, especially in the case of pregnancy from rape.

Early life

Kiessling was born on July 22, 1969, in Michigan.[1] She was raised in Detroit by a Jewish family and had her bat mitzvah as a teenaged girl.[2] She graduated from law school at age 23.[3]

During the 1960s, Kiessling's mother was raped at knifepoint and fell pregnant following the assault.[4] She then was advised by her rape counselor that she have an illegal abortion from back alley clinics since the elective procedure was illegal by Michigan law at that time, and consulting a legal physician would have been costly. However, she was deterred from obtaining an abortion due to the unsanitary area and practices there.[5] After she gave birth to Kiessling, her mother turned her in for adoption.[6][7]

At age 19, Kiessling met with her birth mother, Joann, who had told her that her biological father was a serial rapist as well as "Caucasian and of large build".[8] In addition, she told Kiessling that she would have had an abortion had it been legal at the time she fell pregnant with her. Kiessling's mother, though, recanted this six years later, saying that she was glad her daughter had been born.[1]

Anti-abortion activism

Kiessling became involved with the anti-abortion movement after she found out she was conceived from rape and was almost aborted by her birth mother. She has described her mother's near abortion experience as her "life changing, near-death experience".[1] She has since advocated for restrictions on abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. She founded Save The 1, a pro-life organization that serves as a ministry for women who chose to reject abortion despite being pregnant from rape. She also serves as co-founder of Hope After Rape Conception and Embryo Defense.[1]

Kiessling is critical of anti-abortion legislations that did not include a rape exception, including the Hyde Amendment which bans taxpayer funding on abortion, and the Affordable Care Act which she has described as "a joke that holds no weight". She has also criticized Republicans New Jersey Representative Chris Smith for introducing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,[5] and Senator Rick Santorum for having referred to children conceived through rape as a "gift from God" in one of his presidential campaigns in 2012.[1] She also condemned then-Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock for asserting that rape in the context of abortion is "something that God intended to happen". Mourdock clarified to have been misinterpreted the following day he made the remark.[4]

In March 2017, she spoke for the Irish pro-life group Youth Defence at the Citizens' Assembly, which was debating Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion.[9] In October 2017, Kiessling represented the woman who was assaulted by Christopher Mirasolo.[10]

Personal life

Kiessling has been married to Robert Kiessling since 1998.[6] The couple have five children: three biological daughters Carina, Coralie and Contessa, and two adopted sons Caleb and Kyler.[11] Initially raised in the Jewish faith, Kiessling converted to Christianity at age 23, following an invitation to attend Mass by a friend after suffering domestic abuse from a boyfriend she went to law school with.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kiessling, Rebecca (July 22, 2015). "The one sentence we need to say to everyone to begin a pro-life revolution". LifeSiteNews. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Thomas, Rod. "Rebecca Kiessling: Adopted into God's Family". Christian Broadcasting Network. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Mildebrath, Dana (June 9, 2002). "Conceived in Rape, Loved by God". National Catholic Register. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Deace, Steve (March 24, 2014). "DEACE: If we're really pro-life, let's start acting like it". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Brown, Lauretta (October 17, 2014). "Woman Conceived in Rape Condemns Obamacare's Rape Exception". CNSNews.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Taylor, Lauren (March 18, 2015). "Woman discovers she was conceived by RAPE and nearly aborted after tracking down her birth mother... who gave her up for adoption 40 years ago". Daily Mail. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ Jones, Allie (January 23, 2014). "Inside The World Of Anti-Abortion Activists Who Were Conceived In Rape And Incest". The Wire. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  8. ↑ Carabott, Sarah (December 2, 2016). "'Abortion in cases of rape simply cannot be allowed' - victim's daughter". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  9. ↑ Clayton-Lea, Sarah (March 5, 2017). "Citizens Assembly hears from advocacy groups". Newstalk. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  10. ↑ Miller, Joshua Rhett (October 10, 2017). "Convicted rapist won't seek custody of victim's child: lawyer". New York Post. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  11. ↑ McNeilly, Claire (October 11, 2016). "Pro-life campaigner Rebecca Kiessling to speak at events across Northern Ireland". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
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