November 2, 2007, and June 9, 2023, were both Fridays and I had the same feeling on both days when I heard the news. On the former, Paul Tibbets died, and while I wasn't cheering, I wasn't grief-stricken either. For the latter, Pat Robertson, a man I equally despised, died (I live in Australia, so the news came across on Friday morning Australian Eastern Standard Time, that he had died). I vehemently disagreed with Pat Robertson, whom I would describe as a misogynist, that a woman who fell pregnant as a result of a rape, was carrying "a gift from God." And I also despise Rick Perry for his shit, and it is shit, that pregnancy from rape is "God's way of comforting rape victims." How can it be?

In nine months, a singer might be able to perform a world-wide concert tour, a retiree might be able to do a transnational tour, you may visit several countries, or you could be forced to carry a baby you didn't want, from a sexual encounter you neither wanted nor planned, and the dual crime against humanity is the rape and the denial of the victim's right to not have the baby. And let's not forget that childbirth can still be deadly for women.

People might say, "Oh, but there's always adoption," and yes, that's true, but that should be a choice. And what people also forget is, let's give the example of British actor, David Jason. He was conceived as the result of a rape, and yes, the world would be a sadder place without him, but that's after the event. Somebody else might have played Inspector Frost, but maybe not as well, but we wouldn't have anyone else to compare him to.

I think of it a bit like the old cliché, "Describing the color red to a blind person." If you had been blind since birth, you wouldn't know what it's like to see. If, however, you went blind later in life, you would be able to compare. And let's not forget that some people who were born deaf who had cochlear ear implants have had them removed because they prefer the company of those in the Deaf community. I mean, I am Autistic, but I don't want to be neurotypical.