Cite as: 523 U. S. 420 (1998)
Breyer, J., dissenting
Law & Health 1, 29 (1992-1993) (current testing methods can determine probability of paternity to 99.999999% accuracy); see also H. R. Rep. No. 98-527, p. 38 (1983).
Moreover, a different provision of the statute, subsection (a)(1), already requires proof of paternity by "clear and convincing evidence." No one contests the validity of that provision, and I believe that biological differences between men and women would justify its imposition where paternity is at issue. In light of that provision, subsection (a)(4)'s protection against false claims is not needed. Indeed, the Government concedes that, in light of the "clear and convincing evidence" requirement, the "time limit for meeting the legitimation-or-acknowledgement requirement of Section 309(a)(4) must . . . reflect, at least in part, some other congressional concern." Brief for Respondent 27 (emphasis added).
Justice Stevens says that this "other concern" is a concern for the establishment of relationships and ties, to the father and to the United States, all before the child is 18. Ante, at 438. According to Justice Stevens, the way in which the requirement serves this purpose is by making certain the father knows of the child's existence—in the same way, it says, that a mother, by giving birth, automatically knows that the child exists. Ibid.
The distance between this knowledge and the claimed objectives, however, is far too great to satisfy any legal requirement of tailoring or proportionality. And the assumption that this knowledge of birth could make a significant gender-related difference rests upon a host of unproved gender-related hypotheses. Simple knowledge of a child's existence may, or may not, be followed by the kinds of relationships for which Justice Stevens hopes. A mother or a father, knowing of a child's birth, may nonetheless fail to care for the child or even to acknowledge the child. A father with strong ties to the child may, simply by lack of knowledge, fail to comply with the statute's formal require-
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