CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming lawmakers disagreed Tuesday over whether unintended consequences might result from a bill that would make it easier to terminate parental rights when sexual assault results in childbirth.
The Wyoming House voted 35-24 not to agree with changes made by the Senate, sending the bill to a committee where lawmakers from both chambers will try work out their differences.
The Senate changes included an exemption for parents who are married or who have lived together for at least two years. Even so, some lawmakers worried the bill could cause certain people to unfairly lose their parental rights, or for children to unjustly lose a parent.
The bill could cause a 19-year-old man to lose parental rights for having illegal but consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl, said Republican Rep. Clark Stith, an attorney from Rock Springs.
A person on parole who consensually conceived a child with a corrections officer also could lose parental rights, Stith argued.
“This bill as it goes through is overly broad,” Stith told fellow lawmakers.
Proponents said the bill would help discourage abortion in cases of sexual assault. Others including Democratic Rep. Cathy Connolly, of Laramie, argued the bill wouldn’t necessarily terminate parental rights in every case.
The bill was a good compromise as it stood, Connolly said.
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