Men File Lawsuit To Opt Out Of Child Support
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
Wed Mar 8, 10:37 PM ET
NEW YORK - Contending that women have more options than they do in the event of an unintended pregnancy, men's rights activists are mounting a long shot legal campaign aimed at giving them the chance to opt out of financial responsibility for raising a child.
The National Center for Men has prepared a lawsuit — nicknamed Roe v. Wade for Men — to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Michigan on behalf of a 25-year-old computer programmer ordered to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The suit addresses the issue of male reproductive rights, contending that lack of such rights violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.
The gist of the argument: If a pregnant woman can choose among abortion, adoption or raising a child, a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should have the choice of declining the financial responsibilities of fatherhood. The activists involved hope to spark discussion even if they lose.
"There's such a spectrum of choice that women have — it's her body, her pregnancy and she has the ultimate right to make decisions," said Mel Feit, director of the men's center. "I'm trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly."
Feit's organization has been trying since the early 1990s to pursue such a lawsuit, and finally found a suitable plaintiff in Matt Dubay of Saginaw, Mich.
Dubay says he has been ordered to pay $500 a month in child support for a girl born last year to his ex-girlfriend. He contends that the woman knew he didn't want to have a child with her and assured him repeatedly that — because of a physical condition — she could not get pregnant.
Dubay is braced for the lawsuit to fail.
"What I expect to hear (from the court) is that the way things are is not really fair, but that's the way it is," he said in a telephone interview. "Just to create awareness would be enough, to at least get a debate started."
State courts have ruled in the past that any inequity experienced by men like Dubay is outweighed by society's interest in ensuring that children get financial support from two parents. Melanie Jacobs, a Michigan State University law professor, said the federal court might rule similarly in Dubay's case.
"The courts are trying to say it may not be so fair that this gentleman has to support a child he didn't want, but it's less fair to say society has to pay the support," she said.
Feit, however, says a fatherhood opt-out wouldn't necessarily impose higher costs on society or the mother. A woman who balked at abortion but felt she couldn't afford to raise a child could put the baby up for adoption, he said.
Jennifer Brown of the women's rights advocacy group Legal Momentum objected to the men's center comparing Dubay's lawsuit to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing a woman's right to have an abortion.
"Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government — literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesn't want," Brown said. "There's nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized."
Feit counters that the suit's reference to abortion rights is apt.
"Roe says a woman can choose to have intimacy and still have control over subsequent consequences," he said. "No one has ever asked a federal court if that means men should have some similar say."
"The problem is this is so politically incorrect," Feit added. "The public is still dealing with the pre-Roe ethic when it comes to men, that if a man fathers a child, he should accept responsibility."
Feit doesn't advocate an unlimited fatherhood opt-out; he proposes a brief period in which a man, after learning of an unintended pregnancy, could decline parental responsibilities if the relationship was one in which neither partner had desired a child.
"If the woman changes her mind and wants the child, she should be responsible," Feit said. "If she can't take care of the child, adoption is a good alternative."
The president of the National Organization for Women, Kim Gandy, acknowledged that disputes over unintended pregnancies can be complex and bitter.
"None of these are easy questions," said Gandy, a former prosecutor. "But most courts say it's not about what he did or didn't do or what she did or didn't do. It's about the rights of the child."
___
On the Net:
http://www.nationalcenterformen.org/
link to this story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060309/ap_on_re_us/fatherhood_suit_7
Another article on the same story....
Matt Dubay, an unwed father from Saginaw, has filed a suit that is being called Roe v. Wade for men.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the event of an unplanned pregnancy, should men be able to opt out of paying child support?
(1) Yes52.6 % (293)
(2) No47.4 % (264)
Total: 557
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
READER'S COMMENTS
(Choice 1) "The courts are unfairly slanted towards women.…"
(Choice 1) "Somethings got to change our system is just too…"
(Choice 1) "Too many times it is the guy who gets taken in by…"
(Choice 1) "The man should not have to pay support, if he had…"
(Choice 2) "BUT, I believe that current child support…"
Read All Comments »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRINT | E-MAIL
Roe v. Wade for Men
By Mary Conway
Web produced by Christine Lasek
March 9, 2006
There is a controversy brewing that has become known as Roe v. Wade for men. An unwed father in Michigan believes if women have a right to choose, then men should have that right, also. He is filing a lawsuit, claiming his child support payments violate his constitutional rights.
Matthew Dubay is the unwed father from Saginaw who has filed the suit in federal court, saying his court ordered child support payments violate his constitutional rights.
His attorneys from the National Center for Men call this Roe v. Wade for men, because they say if a woman has the right of choice, men should be able to choose not to pay child support.
According to Dubay, "I do feel I was blindsided by this woman. She is now making me pay for a child, when she knew up front that I was not ready to be a parent at this point."
His ex-girlfriend Lauren Wells, who is raising their daughter, disagrees.
"He chose, I mean really, he chose that risk. And everybody knows where babies come from. It was his choice before the child was even conceived. That was where his choice was," Wells stated.
In the past, courts have ruled that the men’s rights are outweighed by the state’s rights to have that child supported.
Dubay’s attorney says they’re not trying to force anyone to have an abortion. They just want men to be able to say they aren’t willing to support the child.
According to Jeffery Cojocar, Dubay’s attorney, "We don’t want a male to be forced into fatherhood, when that is not what he wants. And it’s discussed. We’re not seeking some type of right to force a woman to have an abortion, or force to abort a child. That’s not what we’re seeking. We just want men to have equal choice, as women do, under the paternity act."
According to the Dubay, he claims Wells assured him she was on birth control, and therefore could not conceive, which is why he hadn’t used protection.
Dubay’s attorneys have suggested that there should be some sort of window when a man can make a choice about whether or not he wants to go through with becoming a parent, after he has been informed of the pregnancy.
The case will likely be heard up in Bay County.
http://www.detnow.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_4527760,00.html
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
Wed Mar 8, 10:37 PM ET
NEW YORK - Contending that women have more options than they do in the event of an unintended pregnancy, men's rights activists are mounting a long shot legal campaign aimed at giving them the chance to opt out of financial responsibility for raising a child.
The National Center for Men has prepared a lawsuit — nicknamed Roe v. Wade for Men — to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Michigan on behalf of a 25-year-old computer programmer ordered to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The suit addresses the issue of male reproductive rights, contending that lack of such rights violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.
The gist of the argument: If a pregnant woman can choose among abortion, adoption or raising a child, a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should have the choice of declining the financial responsibilities of fatherhood. The activists involved hope to spark discussion even if they lose.
"There's such a spectrum of choice that women have — it's her body, her pregnancy and she has the ultimate right to make decisions," said Mel Feit, director of the men's center. "I'm trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly."
Feit's organization has been trying since the early 1990s to pursue such a lawsuit, and finally found a suitable plaintiff in Matt Dubay of Saginaw, Mich.
Dubay says he has been ordered to pay $500 a month in child support for a girl born last year to his ex-girlfriend. He contends that the woman knew he didn't want to have a child with her and assured him repeatedly that — because of a physical condition — she could not get pregnant.
Dubay is braced for the lawsuit to fail.
"What I expect to hear (from the court) is that the way things are is not really fair, but that's the way it is," he said in a telephone interview. "Just to create awareness would be enough, to at least get a debate started."
State courts have ruled in the past that any inequity experienced by men like Dubay is outweighed by society's interest in ensuring that children get financial support from two parents. Melanie Jacobs, a Michigan State University law professor, said the federal court might rule similarly in Dubay's case.
"The courts are trying to say it may not be so fair that this gentleman has to support a child he didn't want, but it's less fair to say society has to pay the support," she said.
Feit, however, says a fatherhood opt-out wouldn't necessarily impose higher costs on society or the mother. A woman who balked at abortion but felt she couldn't afford to raise a child could put the baby up for adoption, he said.
Jennifer Brown of the women's rights advocacy group Legal Momentum objected to the men's center comparing Dubay's lawsuit to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing a woman's right to have an abortion.
"Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government — literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesn't want," Brown said. "There's nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized."
Feit counters that the suit's reference to abortion rights is apt.
"Roe says a woman can choose to have intimacy and still have control over subsequent consequences," he said. "No one has ever asked a federal court if that means men should have some similar say."
"The problem is this is so politically incorrect," Feit added. "The public is still dealing with the pre-Roe ethic when it comes to men, that if a man fathers a child, he should accept responsibility."
Feit doesn't advocate an unlimited fatherhood opt-out; he proposes a brief period in which a man, after learning of an unintended pregnancy, could decline parental responsibilities if the relationship was one in which neither partner had desired a child.
"If the woman changes her mind and wants the child, she should be responsible," Feit said. "If she can't take care of the child, adoption is a good alternative."
The president of the National Organization for Women, Kim Gandy, acknowledged that disputes over unintended pregnancies can be complex and bitter.
"None of these are easy questions," said Gandy, a former prosecutor. "But most courts say it's not about what he did or didn't do or what she did or didn't do. It's about the rights of the child."
___
On the Net:
http://www.nationalcenterformen.org/
link to this story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060309/ap_on_re_us/fatherhood_suit_7
Another article on the same story....
Matt Dubay, an unwed father from Saginaw, has filed a suit that is being called Roe v. Wade for men.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the event of an unplanned pregnancy, should men be able to opt out of paying child support?
(1) Yes52.6 % (293)
(2) No47.4 % (264)
Total: 557
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
READER'S COMMENTS
(Choice 1) "The courts are unfairly slanted towards women.…"
(Choice 1) "Somethings got to change our system is just too…"
(Choice 1) "Too many times it is the guy who gets taken in by…"
(Choice 1) "The man should not have to pay support, if he had…"
(Choice 2) "BUT, I believe that current child support…"
Read All Comments »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRINT | E-MAIL
Roe v. Wade for Men
By Mary Conway
Web produced by Christine Lasek
March 9, 2006
There is a controversy brewing that has become known as Roe v. Wade for men. An unwed father in Michigan believes if women have a right to choose, then men should have that right, also. He is filing a lawsuit, claiming his child support payments violate his constitutional rights.
Matthew Dubay is the unwed father from Saginaw who has filed the suit in federal court, saying his court ordered child support payments violate his constitutional rights.
His attorneys from the National Center for Men call this Roe v. Wade for men, because they say if a woman has the right of choice, men should be able to choose not to pay child support.
According to Dubay, "I do feel I was blindsided by this woman. She is now making me pay for a child, when she knew up front that I was not ready to be a parent at this point."
His ex-girlfriend Lauren Wells, who is raising their daughter, disagrees.
"He chose, I mean really, he chose that risk. And everybody knows where babies come from. It was his choice before the child was even conceived. That was where his choice was," Wells stated.
In the past, courts have ruled that the men’s rights are outweighed by the state’s rights to have that child supported.
Dubay’s attorney says they’re not trying to force anyone to have an abortion. They just want men to be able to say they aren’t willing to support the child.
According to Jeffery Cojocar, Dubay’s attorney, "We don’t want a male to be forced into fatherhood, when that is not what he wants. And it’s discussed. We’re not seeking some type of right to force a woman to have an abortion, or force to abort a child. That’s not what we’re seeking. We just want men to have equal choice, as women do, under the paternity act."
According to the Dubay, he claims Wells assured him she was on birth control, and therefore could not conceive, which is why he hadn’t used protection.
Dubay’s attorneys have suggested that there should be some sort of window when a man can make a choice about whether or not he wants to go through with becoming a parent, after he has been informed of the pregnancy.
The case will likely be heard up in Bay County.
http://www.detnow.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_4527760,00.html
