Bieda Praises Signing of Paternity Legislation Into Law
LANSING- Senator Steve Bieda (D-Warren) is pleased that Governor Snyder has signed into law a package of bills he sponsored that amends Michigan’s paternity laws. Under the old law, a woman’s husband is legally her child’s father, even if the child was fathered by another man. One well documented case is that of Daniel Quinn, of Fenton, MI. Despite having proved paternity and raising his daughter for two years, Mr. Quinn was denied parental rights because the girl’s mother was married to another man at the time of birth.
“Advances in science have made the old system for determining paternity obsolete,” said Senator Bieda. “This law will remove legal barriers that are preventing fathers from having a relationship with their children. I think it’s great that passage of this law comes before Father’s Day, it will be an early gift to some fathers.”
In Michigan, 42% of all babies are born to unmarried women. This trend has led to an increased focus on the father of these children. Unmarried fathers have few legal rights when they seek recognition and expanded roles in raising their children. The four bills create the Revocation of Paternity Act and set out procedures for establishing that a presumed father is not a child’s actual father. The individuals involved would be required to participate in and pay for blood or tissue typing or DNA profiling.
