Cross-posted from MN Political Roundtable
Three women who were kidnapped ten years ago were found recently when one of them escaped, along with a child belonging to the woman who escaped. The photo below shows the woman who escaped, Amanda Berry, and her daughter, along with Berry’s sister on the viewer’s left.
All three kidnapped women and the little girl were released from the hospital this morning, where they had been taken after being rescued.
But their ordeal is not over, especially this victim’s, despite the arrest of the three brothers accused of the kidnappings.
While the right wing makes it harder and harder for women to get an abortion if they are impregnated due to rape, 31 states – including Ohio AND MINNESOTA – allow rapists to assert parental rights, preventing women from getting abortions, and awarding them shared custody of the resulting children.
This is morally repugnant, both that women could be denied an abortion after rape, and that a rapist could claim parental rights.
If you agree, don’t feel there is nothing you can do. We can change this. First, we can push back in this state and nationally against those who are trying to destroy and deny a woman’s right of autonomy over her own body that has been part of the conservative political platform, both state and national.
We can do more than that; please support enacting federal laws to strip parental rights from rapists over their victim’s children. Please support doing so in the Minnesota state legislature as well.