Aggregated News
In what sounds like a plot twist from a dystopic-future novel, Mississippi is now requiring hospitals to store the blood of babies born to mothers 16 and younger. The new law, which went into effect on Monday, July 1, is meant to discourage teen pregnancy, according to its drafters, but in a very roundabout way.
Any time a teen mom doesn’t know who the father is, or won’t say who the father is, or says the father is over 21, a hospital is required to take a blood sample from the baby’s umbilical cord and put it on ice. DNA will then be extracted from that blood and used to hunt down the (presumably) older men who had sex with the young women. They can be charged with statutory rape if they are more than 3 years older than the under-16 moms. The state hopes this will discourage cradle-robbers/cradle-makers in the future.
Via NPR:
Any time a teen mom doesn’t know who the father is, or won’t say who the father is, or says the father is over 21, a hospital is required to take a blood sample from the baby’s umbilical cord and put it on ice. DNA will then be extracted from that blood and used to hunt down the (presumably) older men who had sex with the young women. They can be charged with statutory rape if they are more than 3 years older than the under-16 moms. The state hopes this will discourage cradle-robbers/cradle-makers in the future.
Via NPR:
Starting in July, doctors and midwives in the state will be required by law to collect samples of umbilical cord blood from babies born...