Sunday, October 20, 2002

A story published today by the Boston Globe reports that in Michigan, as in most other states, children born during a marriage are the legal responsibility of the husband. And even for single men, once paternity is acknowledged or established through the courts, it is next to impossible to change. Prosecutors and many children's advocates contend that is the way it ought to be to keep from unduly traumatizing children by snatching away their emotional and financial support.

But across the country, a push is underway to institute ''paternity fraud'' laws. The new legislation which has been recently introduced in Michigan, would cancel mandated child support payments, and arrearages, for men who can prove through DNA testing that they are supporting children who are not their flesh and blood. In some cases, the laws would provide criminal penalties for women who willingly lie about the father of their children.

Advocates of the new laws contend change is needed to prevent the exploitation of men by women who are promiscuous, get pregnant, and then choose a ''father'' from their male acquaintances, often based on money. Some are pushing for mandatory testing in all unmarried births, and before any child support order is established.

They point to studies by groups such as the American Association of Blood Banks, which found in 1999 that nearly 30 percent of 280,000 paternity cases evaluated excluded the alleged father as the biological parent.

At least 30 states have laws presuming a child born to a married couple is the husband's. A husband can challenge that presumption in court, but most states have a statute of limitations.