CINCINNATI (CN) - An unwilling father tried unsuccessfully to shirk his duty to pay child support by taking on the Michigan Paternity Act, saying it unfairly ropes bachelors into fatherhood. In a brief decision, the Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Matthew Dubay's case.
Dubay said he told his ex-girlfriend repeatedly that he did not want kids, and she claimed to be infertile and on birth control. But when she got pregnant, she decided to have the baby against his wishes. She later sued him for child support under the Paternity Act.
Dubay fought back by claiming the Act violates the Equal Protection Clause because it imposes on men a burden that women can avoid through abortion or adoption, or by anonymously dropping off a newborn at a hospital. Men have to become fathers whether they like it or not, he claimed.
Though the circuit rejected his claims, it decided that the defendants can bear their own appellate costs. See ruling in Dubay v. Wells.
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