Earlier this month, Judge Michael Russo rejected Castro's bid to see the child, calling it "inappropriate."
The bill's advocates say studies estimate that between 25,000 and 32,000 pregnancies in the United States each year result from rape, and that women who chose to raise those children may face custody battles with their rapists.
A bill introduced today by a group of legislators including Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge, Russell Township Republican Rep. Dave Joyce, and Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, would provide grants to states that allow the mother of a child conceived through rape to seek court-ordered termination of the rapist's parental rights.
According to sponsors of the bill, just six states currently have statutes that allow rape survivors to petition courts to terminate the rapists' parental rights, based on evidence that the child was conceived through rape.
"A rapist pursuing parental or custody rights forces the survivor to have continued interaction with the rapist, which can have traumatic psychological effects on the survivor, making it more difficult for her to recover," the proposed legislative language says. "These traumatic effects on the mother can severely negatively impact her ability to raise a healthy child."
The $5 million in grant money authorized under the law for the next four years would be given to the states that pass such laws, to be used used for programs that fight sexual assault and violence against women.
"The case of Amanda Berry giving birth while being held captive and raped for over a decade occurred in my district but the need for this legislation goes beyond one case," Fudge said in a press release. "I am determined to do whatever I can to ensure that rape survivors throughout Ohio and in every other state are not further traumatized by the justice system."