Parentage, not paternity: Ghana’s proposed compulsory paternity testing bill sparks fears of discrimination against mothers

A legislative proposal currently advancing through Ghana’s policy space seeks to mandate compulsory paternity testing for all children born in healthcare facilities, alongside the criminalisation of what its proponents call “paternity fraud.” Its stated objectives: securing biological certainty, protecting paternal interests, and deterring deception or fraud, indeed hold an immediate and superficial appeal to many. After all, few would argue that truth has no place in law. Law, however, does not pursue truth in the abstract. It demands truth through a disciplined framework of rules, principles, and consequences that must uphold fairness, coherence, and impartiality. When rigorously tested against these essential standards, the proposed bill reveals a weak foundation. What is presented as a neutral mechanism for legal certainty in fact injects suspicion directly into the core of the legal system, discriminatorily targeting mothers and enforced by the coercive power of criminal punishment. And in the next few paragraphs, I shall demonstrate why this proposed bill, if it ever materialises in the manner proposed by its proponents, would pose a grave danger not only to mother, but to families and to the country at large.

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