1. Under Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns Law
("SDNL"), a parent-child relationship can be
permanently severed (1) with less notice than is
required in a child abuse case, (2) without any
system in place for courts to determine if another court already has jurisdiction over the child, (3)
without an adjudication of parental fitness, and (4)
with only a preponderance of the evidence that termination is in the best interests of the child. Does
the SDNL comply with Due Process requirements and, if not, does Michigan have
a sufficient State Interest to justify same?

2. Legal parents are entitled to an individualized
fitness determination before the State destroys their
family life. The SDNL permits the permanent
severing of a parent's relationship with their child
based not on their actions, but on the other parent's
decision to surrender the child pursuant to Michigan's SDNL rather than to surrender the child
pursuant to Michigan's Adoption Code. Does the
SDNL violate the one-parent doctrine
articulated by this Court in Stanley v Illinois?

3. The Equal Protection Clause prohibits the
disparate treatment of individuals based upon
marital status absent the classification furthering
an important government interest by means that are substantially related to that interest. In Michigan, unwed fathers have a greater ability to secure their
rights to a surrendered newborn than a married
father. Does Michigan have a sufficient State
interest to justify legislation that provides
lesser procedural protections to married
parents than those who are unwed?

Does Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns Law comply with Due Process requirements?