Bill could let men sever child support with DNA test results

Article here. Excerpt:

'A female lawmaker from Port Orchard says men in Washington are being unfairly forced to pay child support for children who aren’t theirs, and the state should let them escape that burden.

A measure introduced by state Sen. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, would allow a man to challenge his status as a child’s legal parent in court if genetic tests prove he is not the father.

Current law in Washington generally only gives fathers four years to challenge a child’s parentage, and assumes a man is the father if he was married to the child’s mother close to the child’s birth date.

Angel’s bill would let a man try to sever his legal ties to a child at any time within two years of learning he is not the child’s biological father — whether the child’s age is 5 or 15.

If a man’s request to sever paternity were granted by a judge, he would no longer have to pay child support for the child, even if he previously acknowledged himself to be the parent or was married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth.
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Some committee members questioned the wisdom of letting parents bow out of parenthood at any point in a child’s life. Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said that if a 7-year-old child has grown up calling someone Dad, it could be damaging to the child if that person simply disappears. A man can be a child’s “psychological parent” even if he and the child are not biologically related, Kline said.

“Have you considered the difference this makes to the child as opposed to the difference this makes to the father?” Kline asked Angel.'