Daddy Nobucks: When Involuntary Fathers Are Forced to Foot The Bill
There is another wrinkle here.
It has been pointed out that the mother has substantial rights to choose whether to be a parent *after* the sex act that are denied to the father.
What has not been pointed out is that she effectively has substantial rights after the *birth* of the child to not be a parent. Under the safe harbor laws in most states she can simply drop the child off at a hospital or firestation and walk away no questions asked. Totally anonymous. The child is then a ward of the state, and the mother has no financial obligations for the child.
The father effectively does not have this option, nor does he effectively have any capacity to prevent the mother from availing herself of this option.
How is it that the mother can abandon her parental responsibilities even after birth, while a father cannot?
