Tallahassee
Florida lawmakers have unanimously repealed a law that required some single women to publish their sexual histories in a newspaper before putting a baby up for adoption. The measure, known as the “Scarlet Letter” law, was passed in 2001 to give fathers a chance to demand custody. If the mother was not sure who the father was, she had to run advertisements listing the name and description of any man it could have been. The law was deemed an unconstitutional violation of privacy after several women challenged it in court. One of the women called it a “barbaric gesture.” The new law makes it the father’s responsibility to step forward before an adoption. “It puts responsibility where I believe it should be,” said Rep. Mark Mahon, a sponsor of the repeal bill.
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