Georgia parents can claim unborn child as dependent for tax credit of $3,000

The Department of Revenue said parents that claim an unborn child or fetus on their state income taxes will receive a $3,000.00 compensation, according to WSB-TV 2.

"On individual income tax returns filed for tax year 2022, (if) a taxpayer has an unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat, the taxpayer may claim a dependent personal exemption in the amount of $3,000 for each unborn child," according to guidance issued by Georgia Department of Revenue on Monday.

With the exception of rape and incest, all abortions are banned in the state of Georgia once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The state's new abortion laws took effect following the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn abortion landmark ruling Roe v. Wade, according to New York Post.

In 2020, the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled that the state's fetal heartbeat abortion law violated constitutional abortion protections established by the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling on Roe v. Wade, according to the outlet.

However, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled in favor of state legislators and said the abortion laws can go into effect as SCOTUS ruled that there is "no constitutional right to abortion" and overturned Roe.

Sharon August, a resident of Georgia, told WSB-TV 2 that although she doesn't agree with Georgia's abortion laws, she's glad to see the updated IRS policies.

"I mean, eventually, it's going to be a tax dependent anyway. So as long as they're going to have the child and they have the child, they should be able to claim it," August told the outlet.

Another Georgia resident said, "I think that helps. I think that should've already been in place. I think there's a lot of things that the state and the country could do to better support mothers that ... we aren't doing."