Pearl Is Hester's Child! (ch.7-13)

"God gave me the child!" (pg. 103) cries Hester when faced with the prospect of losing Pearl, all because they don't think she is a fit mother. Apart from Hester wearing a scarlet "A", she has never committed a crime. Is this just another chance to punish her more, or do they have evidence (besides when Pearl couldn't say where she came from.) that justifies them taking Pearl from Hester. My guess would be that they just want to punish Hester even more, because to me thats what they have always set out to do. To me Hester has already proven she is a good mother, she raised Pearl and doesn't resent her. Hester gets a lot of bad publicity and yet she still goes on with her daily life.