I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1257 
To direct the Attorney General to make grants to States that have in place 
laws that terminate the parental rights of men who father children 
through rape. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 4, 2015 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. MARINO, Ms. FRANKEL of Flor-
ida, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. JOYCE, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CAR-
SON of Indiana, Mr. HONDA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 
TONKO, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. ISRAEL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To direct the Attorney General to make grants to States 
that have in place laws that terminate the parental rights 
of men who father children through rape. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rape Survivor Child 
Custody Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Men who father children through rape 
should be prohibited from visiting or having custody 
of those children. 
(2) According to several studies, it is estimated 
that there are between 25,000 and 32,000 rape-re-
lated pregnancies annually in the United States. 
(3) A substantial number of women choose to 
raise their child conceived through rape and, as a re-
sult, may face custody battles with their rapists. 
(4) According to one study, 32.3 percent of 
women who were raped and became pregnant as a 
result of the rape kept their child. 
(5) Another study found that, of the 73 percent 
of women who became pregnant as a result of a rape 
and carried their pregnancies to term, 64 percent 
raised their children. 
(6) Rape is one of the most under-prosecuted 
serious crimes, with estimates of criminal conviction 
occurring in less than 5 percent of rapes. 
(7) The clear and convincing evidence standard 
is the most common standard for termination of pa-
rental rights among the 50 States, territories, and 
the District of Columbia. 
(8) The Supreme Court established that the 
clear and convincing evidence standard satisfies due 
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process for allegations to terminate or restrict pa-
rental rights in Santosky v. Kramer (455 U.S. 745 
(1982)). 
(9) Currently only 6 States have statutes allow-
ing rape survivors to petition for the termination of 
parental rights of the rapist based on clear and con-
vincing evidence that the child was conceived 
through rape. 
(10) A rapist pursuing parental or custody 
rights forces the survivor to have continued inter-
action with the rapist, which can have traumatic 
psychological effects on the survivor, making it more 
difficult for her to recover. 
(11) These traumatic effects on the mother can 
severely negatively impact her ability to raise a 
healthy child. 
(12) Rapists may use the threat of pursuing 
custody or parental rights to coerce survivors into 
not prosecuting rape, or otherwise harass, intimi-
date, or manipulate them. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 
The Attorney General shall make grants to States 
that have in place a law that allows the mother of any 
child that was conceived through rape to seek court-or-
dered termination of the parental rights of her rapist with 
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