H 1713 Massachusetts House · 194th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act to protect victims of rape and children conceived during the commission of said offense

This bill allows victims of rape to petition courts to terminate the rapist's parental rights when a child is conceived during the crime. It applies to married women (via Section 1) and any mother (via Section 2) who has a child born from rape. The law presumes termination is in the child's best interest and accepts a guilty plea or conviction for rape (under MA law sections 22/22A) as conclusive proof the child was conceived through criminal conduct. Petitions may be filed at any time without additional evidence. The bill directly affects victims of rape and the children born from such crimes by creating a streamlined legal pathway to end the perpetrator's parental rights.
Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 27, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
5
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Feb 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate concurred
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to the committee on The Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Colleen Garry
Colleen Garry
DDemocratic
MA
36th Middlesex