In Indiana, the natural father of an unborn child sought to prevent the mother (Smith) from aborting the child. The father and mother were not married, nor was it suggested that they ever would. The father was able to father other children and had other children. And the father had shown substantial instability in his marital and romantic life. The trial court found that even when the father's and mother's interests were balanced the mother's interests would outweigh the father's. The father applied to an individual Justice of the US Supreme Court for an order enjoining the mother from aborting the child.