A new British law could make it mandatory for single mothers
in the UK
to name the biological father on their birth certificates, unless they do not know who he is.
Advocates of the law claim that this will make it easier to enforce child
support payments and will signal “official recognition of the importance of
fathers in children's lives.” But critics say the measure could endanger abused
women, since it would allow estranged fathers to add themselves to the birth
certificate.
Given that four out of 10 of the single mothers who give
birth each year are teenagers, the law does seem like it could send an
important message to teenage boys (and other men) that they are just as responsible
for their actions as females.
But the potential backlash to victims of domestic violence
seems to outweigh this benefit. As a charity for battered women points out, "A
pregnant woman could, in theory, escape domestic violence only to find that her
abuser has registered himself as the father of her child and has automatic
rights to the child."
Photo: Upstream Gallery
