Jason Patric hits back at ex-girlfriend's request for gag order

Actor Jason Patric has hit back at his ex-girlfriend's legal request for a gagging order to prevent him from speaking publicly about their high-profile custody battle.

The Speed 2: Cruise Control star has spent the last few years locked in a dispute with his former partner Danielle Schreiber over access to their four-year-old son Gus, who was conceived by artificial insemination using the actor's sperm.

He has been fighting for the chance to spend time with his kid following the couple's split as U.S. law only recognizes him as a sperm donor with no paternity rights.

Patric even launched a high-profile campaign in a bid to alter the legislation, a move which was backed by stars including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Mel Gibson.

However, Schreiber recently filed a request for a restraining order to forbid Patric from speaking about their son in public or private without her permission - and now the actor has responded to the motion, accusing his ex of treating him unfairly.

Appearing on talk show The View on Friday (28Feb14), he said, "It wasn't enough to take my son, it wasn't enough to erase me from his life, but now she wants to take my First Amendment rights (to free speech) away, meaning if I ever speak about (my) child she wants me to go to jail."

But Schreiber has already defended her request for a gagging order in a statement which reads, "The purpose of the pending motion is not to prevent Patric from mentioning the name of my son privately, but rather to prevent him from exploiting my son and depriving him of the privacy to which all children are entitled."