By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

Last May, the state of Georgia enacted legislation that would allow a man to stop paying court-ordered support if DNA tests prove that he is not the father of the child in question. Although this seems like a genuine no-brainer, the decision has set off howling in some circles. Most states make it extremely difficult for men to disestablish paternity once they have acknowledged it.

It works something like this: Bill and Becky are married. Later, for whatever reason, Becky has an affair with Bill's fishing buddy, John, and becomes pregnant with John's child. Bill has no clue that Becky has been cheating on him and neither Becky nor John ever spill the beans. The child is born and Bill believes that little Billy Jr., his son. A year later, Bill and Becky go through a nasty divorce and Bill gets slapped with a zillion dollars a month in child support. Bill pays willingly to support his son. A couple of years later John, in a moment of remorse, confesses to Bill that Billy Jr., in reality, Johnny, Jr. (Oops!). Bill has a paternity test and-surprise-he is NOT the dad! Too bad, the court says. He has to pay anyway until Billy, Jr., (or Johnny, Jr.) turns 18.

The practice stems from a 500-year-old practice of English common law that presumes that a man is the legal father of any children born to his wife during their marriage. The Associated Press reported on the story of Dan Conners, 39, who was forced to pay $1,400 a month to support a girl whohe learned six years after her birthwas not his daughter. Conners was willing to pay the support as long as he believed that he was the father but, when blood tests proved that he was not, he tried to nullify the court ordered support. Nay, said the court. You shall pay anyway. "It's not American!" said Conners. Oh, but it is, say most states in the Union, although twelve states allow disestablishment of paternity in some circumstances and Vermont, Michigan, Massachusetts, and, now, California, have introduced legislative measures similar to Georgia's.

Believe it or not, there are people who oppose these legislative measures. Valerie Ackerman, a lawyer for the National Center for Youth Law in Oakland, is opposed to California's attempt to rectify a terrible unfair situation. "If somebody's been supporting a child, you can't just choose to pull the plug because you find out biology is not an element of that paternal relationship," said lawyer Ackerman. Oh? Why not? The poor, deceived, and betrayed husband (assuming there was a marriage) has been supporting a child for years that wasn't his in the first place. Why does Ackerman desire to continue the injustice? Here's a thoughtlet the wife who betrayed her husband go back to the guy she shacked up with and try to get the money from him.

Opponents, however, say that the man's rights are outweighed by the child's needs. Ackerman and her cronies have no problem with the injustice and fraud perpetrated upon the man by the cheating wife. She believes that the man should continue to pay, for years or decades, for a sin that he had little or nothing to do with. She may succeed in such socialistic arguments. The passage of the California bill is, by no means, a certain thing.

Some folks in Vermont, however, are getting sick and tired of the status quo. State Rep. Leo Valliere has introduced a bill that could prove to be the toughest in the nation. The Valliere bill would not only allow child support orders to be nullified but would create a new crime of paternity fraud. Under this proposal, anyone making false assertions that a man is the biological father of a child could face up to two years in prison. Valliere says that it "can be devastating to have an attachment to a child you really believe is yours, and then to feel defrauded in the worst way." Thankfully, the state of Georgia has assumed the lead and has taken firm steps to address this grievous and intolerable situation.

The Reverend Canon David Epps is rector of Christ the King

[Charismatic Episcopal Church in the Coweta/Fayette County area of south metro Atlanta. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ctkcec.org.]

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