With new US law, more funding to protect women who have children after rape

Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2015-06-06 15:15

Article here. Excerpt:

'President Obama signed the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act into law on May 29 as part of the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. It boosts funding for states that allow women to petition for the termination of parental rights based on clear and convincing evidence that a child was conceived through rape.
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Currently, about 36 states address the issue in law, but many of them require a criminal conviction of the rapist, which leaves little protection for the vast majority of victims, since very few rapes lead to prosecution. The “clear and convincing” standard – in place in 10 states – allows a judge to block the alleged rapist’s access to a child in a civil proceeding with a lower burden of proof than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required in criminal courts. ...'

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Comments

... preponderance = he-said-she-said = an accusation suffices.

A rose by any other name.

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Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2015-06-06 18:18

This law is redundant and can easily be misused. In this context, rape is a crime against the mother. If the father is a fit parent, his parental involvement has value to the child which should not be taken away from the child.

Some might argue that a rapist cannot be a fit parent. That is certainly true in many situations (particularly violent stranger rapes) but I could argue that it is not true in many of today's broad definitions of "rape"

If a parent is so unfit that it puts the child in danger, it should be easy to prove in court. We already have laws which terminate or reduce the rights for unfit parents.

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Submitted by Kris on Sat, 2015-06-06 20:42

...yes..., some "war on women" we have going, here, eh, lads? (sarcasm, of course)

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Submitted by ErikaLancastor on Sun, 2015-06-07 05:22