In America, a woman is raped every two minutes. The act of coercively forcing someone into having sexual intercourse against their will, reaches far beyond the “pleasure” of sex, but rather into the feeling of dominance and supremacy. Rape has existed as a never-ending issue in which a contingent of victims have feared talking about. As more and more time passes, however, more people are gaining the courage to discuss their stories. Having said that, there are an array of states in the U.S. that don’t stress the horror of rape enough. Alabama is unfortunately one of those states. Alabama considers it just in giving rapists parental rights. Under no circumstances, should a rapist be given parental rights, because it can pose a threat to the child(ren) and can increase the amount of people being sexually abused.
Placing a child in the hands of a rapist is a catastrophe waiting to happen. According to a recent study by the RAINN Organization, about 34% of rape victims are under the age of 12. This accounts for the majority of kids who weren’t able to protect themselves from a sexual assault encounter. Rapists have exceptionally twisted perceptions of what is moral and what isn’t. They can’t differentiate between right and wrong. However, how does one define what is moral and what is not? As Martin Luther King Jr. stated in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” “ An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Something isn’t morally right if it involves tormenting others in any way, shape, or form. Rape exceeds far beyond this. Anyone can come to the conclusion that rape is not moral. It isn’t acceptable to bring upon pain towards others. The fact that the rapist was a sick enough person to hurt another individual won’t come in the way of potentially raping the kids as well.
This proves that kids shouldn’t be anywhere near a rapist; allowing this creates a huge threat towards the well-being of the kids. Abolishing this law will expand children’s protection. Giving rapists parental rights can essentially increase the number of rapings. This law allows the sexual predators to delude in the idea that rape has no consequences. If they are still given the right to parent the children, most of which are conceived of rape, then they might perceive rape as being acceptable. As if rape wasn’t malevolent enough, Alabama’s government isn’t taking any actions to get rid of this law. It seems as though their government has a hard time seeing the immorality of this law. As Henry David Thoreau stated in Civil Disobedience, “Others- as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders- serve the state chiefly with their heads; and as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the Devil, without intending it, as God.” This law has no morality to it.
It is unjustifiable in every way possible and the fact that Alabama’s government is blind to this is a huge liability on their part. Letting rapists parent children is a huge misconduct to the mothers who gave birth to the child(ren). They shouldn’t have to share parental rights with the person who sexaully assaulted them. This hugely violates their justice and way of life. It is clear to anyone, but Alabama’s government, that giving parental rights to rapists is a huge misconduct. This law serves as a violation to the mothers’ that conceived their child(ren) out of rape and have to share parental rights with their sexual abuser. Children are also being violated of their right of protection, by being placed near their potential sexual predator. This law violates everyones’ moral justice and must be abolished to ensure the safety of children.
