Jackson Free Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A bill that passed the Mississippi House on Wednesday is aimed at possibly identifying and prosecuting those who impregnate underage girls.

House Bill 151 says physicians or midwives would be required to collect umbilical cord blood when a baby is born to a mother who's younger than 16 if she doesn't reveal the father's name.

DNA tests would be done on the blood as a way to try to identify the father and allow prosecutors to pursue statutory rape charges if there's a large age gap between the mother and the father, said House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson, R-Braxton.

Results of the cord blood test would be checked against a database of convicted criminals' DNA to try to find any possible match, Gipson said during debate.

However, he said in an interview later that there's nothing in the bill to compel any man or boy to submit a DNA test to try to prove paternity. That means that even if cord blood is collected, there's no guarantee of finding the father.

Mississippi has long had one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country, and Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has been saying for months that he believes part of the problem is adult men impregnating girls who, under the law, are not old enough to consent to sex.

The bill to require the collection of umbilical cord blood passed the House 99-18 and moves to the Senate for more debate.

Gipson said Bryant requested the bill and Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood supports it.

Opponents in the House raised concerns about medical privacy and about ensnaring young people — boys and girls — in criminal prosecutions.

"I don't know if you're aware of it. There are 12- and 13-year-olds in this state having sex with each other," said Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville.

Gipson said the statutory rape law specifies there must be certain age gaps before charges could be brought. State law defines statutory rape two ways:

— Anyone having intercourse with a child who is younger than 14, if there's at least a two-year age gap between the younger person and the older one. That means a 17-year-old who has sex with a 14-year-old could face charges, for example.

— Anyone who's at least 17 years old who has sex with someone who's between 14 and 16 years old, if there's at least a three-year age gap between the younger person and the older one.

The governor's office sponsored a teenage pregnancy prevention rally Dec. 6 in Jackson, and Bryant told about 200 young people that it breaks his heart to see 14- or 15-year-old girls become mothers.

"Do you know how hard it is to make it in this world? To get out of high school, to get into college, to get a career, to be successful? It's not easy," Bryant said. "Try that with a baby and no 'baby daddy' around."