[extropy-chat] No more minor parents?

[Adrian Tymes]

Thinking about what Bill Cosby has been saying of
late, I had an idea for a law.  I am uncertain whether
it would be appropriate - while it's a prime example
of the state meddling in personal affairs and of
legislating morality, it seems perhaps justified by
the evidence to date.

Specifically, since almost all child pregnancies are
the result of statutory rape, and since very few
minors are capable - emotionally, mentally,
financially, and in some cases even physically - of
supporting a child, if any minor becomes pregnant,
that pregnancy would have to either be aborted or
given up for adoption immediately after birth.  The
statute of limitations would be 3 to 5 years, since by
that time removing the newborn might do more harm than
good.  (Various versions might specify abort-only or
adopt-only, but there are enough medical and religious
arguments there - the most important religious one
boiling down to how to practically enforce abort-only
upon families who view abortion as murder, to the
point that forcing abort-only would practically mean
no law in many cases - that the law would achieve the
intended effect far better by allowing both, the
decision being made on a case-by-case basis.)

That's it.  No jail time or fines, those being left to
other laws to deal with as appropriate.  For instance,
if a man gets a 12-year-old girl pregnant in the usual
manner, that's already rape, and is already punishable
by extensive jail time; the pregnancy is simply
evidence of the deed so far as prosecuting that
offense goes.