The Back Story at The Federalist titled: In Her New Book, Abortion Activist Jessica Valenti Lies About Me And Rape Statistics

Hawkins notes: “Not only do I know that women can get pregnant from rape, but earlier this year, I paid for that fact to be on a billboard in New York City’s Times Square. … The bald falsehood that I am an example of a pro-life individual who believes ‘women can’t get pregnant from a rape at all’ combined with the deceptive editing = a lie.”

Read the Cease & Desist Letter HERE.

WASHINGTON D.C. (10-21-2024) – Students for Life of America’s (SFLA) attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to Penguin Random House regarding a newly released book from abortion enthusiast Jessica Valenti, titled Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win. An excerpt from the book, posted at Rolling Stone magazine, indicates that those buying the book will be sold the falsehood that Kristan Hawkins says that women can’t get pregnant from rape. Not only is that wrong, earlier this year, a billboard and messaging  campaign that launched in New York City’s Times Square told our view – no matter how a baby is conceived, they are of infinite value and worth. In the letter, SFLA asked that the publisher “undertake a fact check, issue an apology retraction, and pay damages and attorney fees for the defamation to Hawkins.” 

Writing about the incident at The Federalist, Hawkins reported: 

“In hawking her book, Valenti — like most abortion extremists — justifies all intentional abortion by highlighting the issue of rape. But in this book, she lies about not only my point of view but my record. Valenti cuts a sliver of a quote out of context to make a false and cruel accusation, taken from the context of a detailed discussion about how to understand sexual assault and abortion while skipping inconvenient facts that undercut the narrative.

“… In an excerpt of Valenti’s book that appeared in Rolling Stone, she writes: 

Anti-abortion lawmakers and activists also claim that pregnancy after rape is rare — a claim designed to hide their utter cruelty, and to pivot when asked about abortion ban exceptions. Some even say that women can’t get pregnant from a rape at all. Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins — who has been celebrated as the future of the anti-abortion movement — says that “sexual assault actually helps prevent a lot of pregnancy itself because of your body’s natural response.” (Emphasis added) 

“… Valenti deceptively edited a line in a 2023 podcast, “Boom Clap,” in which I joined the hosts for a wide-ranging conversation on where the abortion issue was post-Dobbs, noting as part of a conversation that went for over an hour that the atrocity of rape is horrific and something not to be addressed flippantly. 

“… I hope by highlighting these lies and demanding legal action, we can start to have honest conversations in America about pregnancies that occur after rape. It’s high time we talked about the gaps in resources and the support needed for women who survive sexual assault and are pregnant. It’s time we talked about friends like Ryan Bomberger and Rebecca Kiessling who were conceived in rape, as their lives matter. It’s time we recognize that the women who survive sexual assault, become pregnant, and courageously choose life for their child deserve praise and support. Instead, they are routinely discounted and ignored in the media and at pro-abortion rallies because they don’t fit in with the people cherry-picked for Valenti’s narrative.

At Students for Life, we reject prejudice against people based on their age, sex, skin color, stage of development, parental income, and the events of conception. We reject the abortion lobby’s mantra that some children are second-class citizens because of their first day or the sins of their fathers. Each life has value unique to himself or herself. We work to support women in moments of crisis through Standing with You, which has been connecting women and young couples to the help and support they need for over 10 years.” 

To read the opinion piece in full, click here.

Learn more about the Almost Aborted campaign here: ALMOST ABORTED National Pro-Life Messaging Campaign Launches in Times Square, Countering the Defeatism of the Democratic Party’s Abortion Extremism with True Stories 

WATCH: Almost Aborted: Rebecca Who Was Conceived In Rape

WATCH: Almost Aborted: Angela Chose LIFE After Being Raped

For interviews, contact  [email protected]  

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The Pro-Life Generation (PLG) is an umbrella organization encompassing the most-cutting edge engagement opportunities for a Vote Pro-Life First Community. PLG includes Students for Life Action (SFLAction), a 501c4, along with its 501c3 sister organization, Students for Life of America (SFLA), that together make up the nation’s largest, pro-life youth organization, managing a grassroots political and policy operation engaging Americans of all ages but with a special emphasis on the largest segment of voters — the Youth Vote. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, PLG/SFLA/SFLAction serves more than 1,400 groups on middle, high school, college, medical, and law school campuses in all 50 states. Our team has more conversations with this generation targeted by the abortion lobby than any other pro-life operation in the world, each week reaching more than 4 million across social media platforms and averaging 1.3 million video views. In addition to SFLA/SFLAction, PLG leads multiple initiatives to lead and serve  the future of the pro-life movement including the Campaign for Abortion Free Cities, Standing With You, and the Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement . Over more than 17 years, PLG CEO Kristan Hawkins has grown the operation into a nearly $20M organization, now preparing for an abortion-free America.