Parental Obligations and "Paper Abortions"

Someone emailed me this question about parental obligations (and, although he didn’t use these words, the concept of “paper abortions”) and I responded.

“Hi Prof. Nobis,

I have a question that I would be grateful to see your insight on!

I came across this issue online where my friend and I have a pretty strong disagreement about. It’s about a case where a woman lies about taking birth control without the father’s knowledge and gives birth to the child. The father then states to the mother that he is willing to pay for the abortion but the mother refuses to. The father then states to the mother that it is now her responsibility to take care of the child.

Do you think the father has a parental obligation in this scenario? It seems to me that there is only an obligation if the child is getting neglected in some way/not having their needs met. However, I think the if the alternative is foster care, there is an obligation (due to the physical/sexual abuse rampant in foster care). I’m curious what you think about this!

Best,

Michael”

Response:

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your question.

To add to your question, let me add a question like this:

suppose some man’s sperm is stolen, without his knowledge (don’t ask how this happened!), and a woman is impregnated and then has a child. Does he have any (moral or legal) obligations to this child? (If the law declares he has an obligation, say because the court just doesn’t believe his sperm was stolen like this, is that fair?). So, the issue is basically whether what might seem to be a mere biological connection generates an obligation. (Or is there eventually more than just a mere biological connection, since the existence of a person who is, in a way, “half of the father” isn’t just a biological connection.)

Next question: in either your case or the one I suggested, does the child have a (moral or legal) right to anything from the father? Your question was whether the father has obligations to the child, but it’s also useful to think about the issue from the other perspective, the child’s, and so wonder if the child has any rights to access, know, or have a relationship with the people who brought that child into existence. If the child does have such a right, then the father does have some obligations here.

So this isn’t a totally direct answer to your question, but these further concerns might help you think about this type of issue.

Thanks,

NN