In this Aug. 24, 2012, file photo Republican Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., talks to the media gathered in Chesterfield, Mo., and told them he will stay in the U.S. Senate race despite the uproar over his remarks about rape and pregnancy.

TWIN FALLS • If a rapist gets his victim pregnant in Idaho, does he have parental rights under Idaho law? What if the rapist was married to his victim? What happens if he hasn’t been convicted of rape?

Under Idaho statute, courts can terminate a rapist’s parental rights, denying the person any legal say or responsibility over the child. But while that provision exists in the code, questions such as burden of proof and child support cloud the issue.

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri, forced the issue of pregnancy through rape into the national spotlight with his controversial — and largely rejected — remarks that “legitimate rape”rarely results in pregnancy because the female reproductive system has ways of “shutting all that down.” Full story. Melissa Davlin, Twin Falls Times-News

Thoughts about Idaho's laws?

---

---