On September 10, 2007, we reported that Dubay v. Wells was being argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. Dubay impregnated a woman who chose to bear his child - and to seek child support. Mr. Dubay brought suit under the civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He claimed that permitting a woman, but not a man, to terminate a pregnancy violates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.

Mr. Dubay lost in the trial court, but he appealed his case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. One November 6, 2007, the Sixth Circuit issued its opinion, which affirmed the judgment of the trial court: Mr. Dubay not only lost, but he was ordered to pay the attorney's fees of his ex-girlfriend and the State.

The gist of Mr. Dubay's claim was that the State of Michigan denied him the equal protection of the law "by denying men, but not women, 'the right to initiate consensual sexual activity while choosing to not be a parent.'"

The Sixth Circuit rejected Mr. Dubay's arguments that Michigan denied him equal protection "by affording mothers a right to disclaim parenthood after engaging in consensual sex (i.e., through abortion) while denying that right to fathers." Mr. Dubay also argued that Michigan denied "men equal protection by making it easier for a woman to place a child in adoption or drop the newborn off at a hospital or other social service agency."

Finding neither argument persuasive, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the District Court's decision.

Tags: child support, roe, wade, equal protection