A bill that would amend Pennsylvania unanimously passed the Pennsylvania house last month. This law concerns a loophole which allows rapist fathers to obtain custody and visitation rights of a child that was conceived due to rape. The mothers of these children naturally do not want the rapist-father to have a relationship with the child.
Pennsylvania has been dealing with this issue for a while. In fact, there were two previous versions of the bill that failed over the past three years. The bill's language was revised to be gender-neutral in the third bill to provide concession for special-interest groups. The second part of the bill enables a rape survivor who bears a child conceived in assault to seek financial support from the attacker.
The current law in Pennsylvania allows that a rape survivor can request termination. This means that she can effectively revoke the attacker's parental rights regarding the child. The law also says that when a mother requests the termination of parental rights, she automatically revokes her right to collect child support from the assailant.
Pennsylvania lawmakers believe that the mother should have the right to collect financial support from the attacker even if he no longer has the right to act on parental rights. The bill also suggests that mothers who are the victims of certain rape-related offenses have the right to protection from the courts. The bill has already passed the House but it still needs to clear the state Senate. After this, it will be taken to the governor's desk to be signed into law.
If you want more information about your rights as a mother who is carrying a rapists' child, or if you are a rapist and want to learn more about you father's rights, don't hesitate to contact an attorney at our Pennsylvania family law firm today! We make a point to keep up to date on the Pennsylvania laws so that we can best advocate in family law cases.
