In Alabama, where lawmakers banned abortion for rape victims, rapists' parental rights are protected

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

When a young woman came to the Family Services of North Alabama office last year for help with trauma, saying she had been raped by her step-uncle when she was 15, rape crisis advocate Portia Shepherd heard something that “killed me, shocked me.”

The step-uncle, who was getting out of jail after a drug conviction, wanted to be a part of their child’s life. And in Alabama, the alleged rapist could get custody.

“It’s the craziest thing I ever heard in my life,” said Shepherd. “On the state level, people were shocked. How could Alabama even be missing this law?”

Alabama is one of two states with no statute terminating parental rights for a person found to have conceived the child by rape or incest, a fact that has gained fresh relevance since its lawmakers adopted the nation’s strictest abortion ban in May. That statute even outlaws the procedure for victims of sexual assault and jails doctors who perform it, except in cases of serious risk to the woman’s health.

While the Alabama abortion law has been challenged in court, abortion rights activists fear it could reduce access to the procedure, forcing rape victims to bear children and co-parent with their attackers.

Last month, Alabama lawmakers considered a bill that addressed ending parental rights in cases of rape that result in conception, but the legislature removed that language, limiting the law to cases in which people sexually assault their children. State Sen. Vivian Figures (D) and other lawmakers believed the language that was removed could have excluded boys who were assaulted, because they cannot get pregnant. Figures said she didn’t know Alabama lacked a statute preventing rapists from gaining custody of their offspring, but told The Washington Post that she now plans to introduce a bill in the next legislative session.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/in-alabama--where-lawmakers-banned-abortion-for-rape-victims--rapists-parental-rights-are-protected/2019/06/09/6d2aa5de-831b-11e9-933d-7501070ee669_story.html?utm_term=.1e8b52b5bb89&wpisrc=al_trending_now__alert-national&wpmk=1

[malaise]

1. WTF? n/t

[ck4829]

2. Disgusting

[Initech]

3. So fucking wrong.

I usually tell pro lifers that if they're that outraged by abortion, then guess what? The kids born as a result of your reckless and abusive policies are now your responsibility. Yes, you get to raise them, care for them, and pay for all their medical and personal expenses. That shuts them up pretty quickly.

[Skittles]

4. that is some sick shit right there

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Unfortunately, that's all too common.

Here on DU, several years back, someone posted about a young woman she knew, perhaps her daughter, who'd been raped and become pregnant and chose to have the baby. She wanted to get child support from the rapist, but he then wanted to have contact with the child, which she absolutely did not want. So she was struggling to support herself and her child with no financial help from the SOB who'd impregnated her.

Personally, I think all men who father children should be on the hook for child support through four years of college. I get angry at the men who self-righteously withhold child support because they don't like the way the mom is spending the money, or she has a boyfriend, or, supposedly, withholds visitation. Too many many use those as excuses to abrogate responsibility. Yeah, not all women are angels about this, but men need to be held responsible.

[smirkymonkey]

6. This is sick!