2012 Indiana Senate Bill 190 - Termination of Parent-Child Relationship in Rape cases - to be heard on Wednesday 11 January 2012

Indiana Senate Bill 190 will come on for hearing before the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday 11 January 2012 at 9:00am in Room 130. This bill would allow the victim of a rape to seek to terminate the parent-child relationship of the father and the child.

The synopsis of the bill is as follows;
Allows a parent who is the victim of an act of rape from which a child was conceived to file a petition to terminate the child's parent-child relationship with the alleged perpetrator. Requires a court to terminate the parent-child relationship if the court finds: (1) by clear and convincing evidence that the alleged perpetrator committed an act of rape against the parent who has filed the petition to terminate the parent-child relationship and that the child was conceived as a result of the act of rape; and (2) terminating the parent-child relationship would be in the best interest of the child.

I believe that this bill has safeguards in it, although not explicitly stated, that would prevent a woman from claiming rape just as a means of attempting to sever the relationship between a father and his child.

The hearing is open to the public and the public is invited to testify. If you plan to testify I suggest that you arrive at about 8:45. You will need to complete an appearance form that should be available at the table for the Chair.

If you need assistance with a parent-child termination matter or any custody issues please visit my website and contact my scheduler to make an appointment to meet with me.

If you would like to follow my activities more closely then send a friend request to my Political FaceBook page.

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More information about child custody rights and procedures may be found on the Indiana Custodial Rights Advocates website.

©2012 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.