Raped, pregnant and ordeal not over - 31 states give parental rights to rapists

[handmade34]

41. links

http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/pdf/98-3/Prewitt.PDF

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/04/10/parental-rights-for-rapists

"...Once Maria has the child, the rapist may gain parental rights depending on his relation to Maria. If the rapist is a stranger to Maria and risks implicating himself criminally, he is probably unlikely to pursue parental rights in the child. But most rapes are perpetrated by someone the victim knows. If the rapist is Maria's abusive husband, his parental rights are presumed upon the birth of the child. If he is an acquaintance or a former boyfriend, he may learn of the child and file a paternity action to establish his legal parenthood. Or, if Maria receives public assistance benefits, the state will pursue his paternity, unless she is lucky enough both to live in a state that exempts victims of violence from participating in such paternity cases, and she is actually informed of her right to exercise that option. Under most state's laws, the rapist's biological connection to the child, regardless of its provenance - even, in many states, in the case of incest - is sufficient to gain parental rights..."