Rape exceptions are intellectually bankrupt and are only repeated pro forma by pro-lifers because they know it's politically unacceptable to take their position to its logical conclusion.
I disagree. Rape exceptions are the natural result of the part of the real agenda: control over the sexual behavior of women. Women can't control being raped, therefore they shouldn't be forced to live with the result. It's the most intellectually honest part of the anti-abortion movement.
The intellectual bankruptcy is the pretense that this is founded on some notion of personhood for the fetus. 1) There is no such personhood granted in the books of most religious traditons, personhood begins at first breath. 2) No other type of person has a right to use the body of second party against their will.