A recent WUSA 9 segment highlighted the need for Maryland legislators to finally pass the Rape Survivor Family Protection Act. The piece cited a recent case in Michigan in which a perpetrator received joint custody of a child conceived as a result of rape as evidence of the consequences of going without an official law addressing rapist's parental rights. Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MCASA) Executive Director and Counsel Lisae C. Jordan commented, saying that originally opposition to the act stemmed from the belief that survivors may lie. "Over time, people have started to believe sexual assault survivors, have recognized that we need to respond to them, and frankly, in today's political climate, women just won't stay silent anymore." Jordan said, "They want this fixed, and they want it fixed now."
Speaker of the House, Mike Busch, agrees and has announced that he will join Delegate Vice-Chair Kathleen Dumais as lead sponsor of the bill and that the bill will be House Bill 1.
For more information on the Rape Survivor Family Protection Act, click here.
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