House Bill 520 originally centered on criminalizing false reports of child abuse or neglect. It passed the House. When it came before the Senate it gave Sen. Alan Nunnelee the opportunity he was looking for.

"The Senate had previously adopted the Child Protection Act, passed that down to the House and it did not get out of committee," said Nunnelee. "So there was a vehicle that had passed the House and I saw it as an opportunity to protect children from child rapists."

Nunnelee's amendment stiffened state statutory rape laws and further restricted abortions. Health care officials under this bill are required to report to law enforcement any girl under sixteen who is pregnant or already given birth.

The amendment lays out guidelines law enforcement officials should follow in tracking down the alleged rapist.

Males who are at least 24 months older than a female under 14 years old will be sought by investigators, as well as males 17 years old and 36 months older than a 14 to 16 year old girl.

"As we all know, a child who's below the age of 16 does not have the capacity to consent to sex, and so anyone who is found to be pregnant below the age of 16 has been raped under the law," said Rep. Phillip Gunn.

This legislation also says doctors who perform abortions on girls under the age of 14 must preserve fetal tissue for DNA testing to help determine who the father is. And anyone helping a girl under 18 get an abortion without her parent's consent could be sued.

"It served both purposes," said Gunn. "it helped reduce hopefully the number of abortions that do take place and it helped protect children who have been taken advantage of in a statutory rape context."

According to statistics from Mississippi Right to Life, over the last four years 140 abortions have been performed in Mississippi on girls fifteen or younger.
In 2006, 450 abortions were performed on girls between the ages of sixteen and nineteen.

A motion to reconsider was made on House bill 520 after the amended version passed the House, which could keep it from becoming law.