During a recent episode of The Wendy Williams Show, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CNHwhHWPoQ, host Wendy Williams entertained a question from a woman in the audience who wanted to have a second child but whose husband did not want to. The audience member was considering stopping her birth control pills without telling her husband in order to trick him into unintentionally getting her pregnant again. One would hope that Williams would have condemned this type of behavior as highly unethical, especially among a married couple who should be able to trust one another. Instead, she encouraged it, prompting enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Contraceptive fraud, the act of misleading or lying to one’s partner about contraception in order to induce him or her to unintentionally conceive a child, is recognized by the Centers for Disease Control as a form of domestic abuse. However, the law provides no protection for victims. Men who unwittingly become fathers as a result of their partners’ deceptive practices are on the hook for child support for next 18-21 years, depending on state law. It is important to recognize the impact that this can have, especially if it happens in the earlier stages of life. A high school student who becomes a father as a result of contraceptive fraud will in many cases not be able to attend college due to the need to earn enough money to make child support payments, affecting his earning potential and ability to support a family for the rest of his life.

Research has shown that children are best off when they grow up with both parents in a stable relationship. We can best achieve this by ensuring that both partners have the right to delay reproduction until they feel that they are ready, both in terms of the financial stability to support a family and in terms of the emotional maturity to meet the great responsibilities of parenthood. The best interest of the child is not served by granting one partner the right to unilaterally make reproductive decisions that greatly affect the other.

We hope you will join us in calling on Wendy Williams to recant her statements and condemn contraceptive fraud.