GOP lawmaker demands bill to block rapists' parental rights include amendment to protect married rapists

Last month, Arizona Democratic State Senator Victoria Steele put forth a bill to allow parents of children conceived by rape to terminate the parental rights of the rapist without a conviction. But in a statement posted to Twitter this Thursday, she revealed that the bill came up against opposition from Republican Senator Eddie Farnsworth, who demanded that the bill include an amendment that would "exempt married victims who are raped by their spouses."

"Today I made an extremely difficult decision: I pulled my bill SB 1355 that would allow a parent of a child conceived because of rape to terminate the parental rights of their rapist," her statement read. "I was forced to pull my bill because the committee chairman held my bill hostage with the demand that I allow an amendment to exempt married victims who are raped by their spouses."

As the Phoenix New Times points out, Arizona law currently allows rape victims who were impregnated to sever parental rights of the rapist, only permitting the legal severance when the rape results in a conviction. According to a Washington Post report from 2018, less than 1 precent of rapes lead to felony convictions. This opens up rape victims in Arizona with a child conceived from the rape to potentially be forced by law to allow the rapists to share custody and visitation rights.

"It's a really important bill," Steele told the Phoenix New Times. "I had this woman who had been raped — she was going to testify at today's committee. She had been raped, and she decided when she became pregnant as a result she was going to keep the baby. But her rapist came back and sued her for custody."

"The father has rights, even if that father is a rapist," she continued. "And the current law in Arizona is if someone has been convicted of rape they can have their parental rights repealed or terminated."