“We should do everything we can to support American mothers and their children. This bill would allow expecting mothers to prepare and support their babies before they are born.”
Republican Senators Marco Rubio from Florida and Kevin Cramer from North Dakota introduced the "Unborn Child Support Act" on Wednesday in an effort to get child support benefits to mothers from the moment of a baby's conception.
On his website, Rubio said of the bill "We should do everything we can to support American mothers and their children. This bill would allow expecting mothers to prepare and support their babies before they are born."
According to The Hill, the bicameral bill would amend the Social Security Act and "ensure that child support for unborn children is collected and distributed under the child support enforcement program."
In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade Rubio adds the "Unborn Child Support Act" to another piece of pro-mother legislation, the "Standing with Moms Act," which "would create Life.gov, a federal clearinghouse of pro-life resources, services, and information for pregnant and parenting mothers."
Rubio said on his website that he's introducing a "pro-life, pro-family framework" that also expands the child tax credit (CTC), makes the adoption tax credit fully refundable, and provides additional funding to WIC, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Cramer described the "Unborn Child Support Act" as "Caring for the well-being of our children begins long before a baby is born. It begins at the first moment of life - conception - and fathers have obligations, financial and otherwise, during pregnancy,"
According to Fox News, the plan also requires judges to consult with mothers on payment plans and gives mothers discretion as to whether or not child support payments will be awarded retroactively. It also mandates that all paternity tests be at the discretion of the mother and not be conducted if the test would put the child at risk.
A bill co-sponsor, Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi, said "I hope good legislation, like the Unborn Child Support Act, gets more support now that the Dobbs decision encourages us to look more seriously at supporting mothers and their unborn children."
Co-sponsors for the "Unborn Child Support Act'' include Republican Senators Steve Daines of Montana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
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