by Will Emaus

Created on: October 18, 2009   Last Updated: October 19, 2009

"So let me get this straight" I say. "My step-daughter legally cannot consent to have sex. If she gets pregnant anyways, she has sole consent over whether she has her child, even though she is considered not old enough to consent to have sex. But then once she makes the decision to have the baby, I am financially responsible for him and have authority over both the child and my child?"

Huh?

That's my primary concern with the way the laws are set up today, there's no congruity between one law and another law on virtually the same topic.

Children in this country getting pregnant is at an almost epidemic stage, a Chicago High School reported this week that 14% of all of their female students are pregnant right now. That's sort of a lot.

In many states, a pregnant child is a clear indication that this person has committed a crime, based on the fact that she is younger than the age of consent for having sex. And yet, is anyone actually charged with anything? It's a horrible position to be in, because you then most likely have to contend with the child of the mother, so it doesn't seem to logically be enforceable; and plus, it's the grandparent that would most likely take responsibility for the child if they did. A grandparent who had no say in her daughter breaking the law to begin with and has no say in the mother's decision regarding her child. That's my definition of a mess, created by laws that don't make sense.

How do you justify to the parents of these teens, myself included, who never gave permission for their child to have sex, they have no legal right to have sex, however they have total authority once they get pregnant, until the baby's born and then it all gets laid in the adult parent's lap?

There should be a federally mandated age limit for sex for this reason. It should be enforced equally, to where any child that is under 18 that signs a birth certificate for her child is then automatically charged with a crime. If you were artificially inseminated, prove it or face charges.

The laws need to make sense, and they need to make sense across the board. You should not be threatened with your 16-year-old child running away with a 20-year-old guy to a state where their relationship is legal, when you rightfully express to your daughter that she has committed a crime.

Please make the laws the same in every state, please make it enforceable, and please mesh the age of consent for sex with the age of consent to have a child.

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