Rebecca Kiessling is an American anti-abortion activist and attorney. Her advocacy is focused on criminalizing abortion, particularly in the case of pregnancy from rape.
Early life
Kiessling was raised in Detroit by a Jewish family and had her bat mitzvah as a teenage girl. She graduated from law school at age 23. In the 1960s, Kiessling's mother was raped at knifepoint and fell pregnant following the assault. She then was advised by her rape counselor that she obtain an illegal abortion in 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. After she gave birth to Kiessling, Kiessling's mother gave her daughter up for adoption. 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".
Anti-abortion activism
Kiessling is critical of pro-life legislation that include a rape exception, such as 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 the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act because it contained a rape exception: "She also cited recent legislation, such as Rep. Chris Smith’s No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act, which also included a rape exception." In March 2017, Kiessling spoke for the Irish pro-life group Youth Defence at the Citizens' Assembly, which was debating Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion.
Kiessling supports the termination of rapists' parental rights, both taking cases as a pro-bono attorney and advocating for the passage of laws requiring judges to terminate custody if there is "clear and convincing evidence" of rape. In 2008, she represented a mother from Michigan who had been raped at the age of 12, and her rapist granted joint custody of the then 8-year-old child. Upon reviewing the case, the judge rescinded his previous ruling granting convicted rapist Christopher Mirasolo joint custody, and furthermore pledged to take action to avoid a repeat of his controversial ruling. In October 2017, she represented another woman who was also assaulted by Mirasolo. In 2019, Alabama passed a law requiring judges to end the parental rights of those convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and incest. Kiessling argues conviction-based parental right termination leave some women vulnerable, due to the low percentage of rape reports and furthermore, convictions. At the time, Kiessling stated "We need to mandate judges in family-law matters to immediately suspend any legal or physical custody or parenting time if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the child was conceived in rape." As of 2019, Minnesota is the only state to not have a law ending parental rights for those convicted of rape or incest.
Personal life
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 with whom she attended law school. On July 29, 2020, Kiessling announced that her two adopted sons, Caleb and Kyler, died at ages 20 and 18, respectively, from drug overdose.
