In the wake of the United States Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans are introducing new legislation to secure financial support for unborn children.
Republicans recently proposed the Unborn Child Support Act, which would allow pregnant women to collect child support payments while they are pregnant.
“We should do everything we can to support American mothers and their children,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl) said in a statement. “This bill would allow expecting mothers to prepare and support their babies before they are born.”
Rubio also released the framework for his “pro-family” legislation “Providing for Life Act,” which aims to “provide comprehensive support for pregnant and new moms, as well as young children.”
The bicameral bill, which is modeled after a similar bill introduced back in 2020, is being cosponsored by a number of Republicans and requires child support payments to be made by the biological father of an unborn child to the mother from the first month in which the child was conceived.
It would amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act “to ensure that child support for unborn children is collected and distributed under the child support enforcement program, and for other purposes.”
If the bill passes, child support payments will also be able to be retroactively collected in cases where paternity isn’t determined until after the birth of the child.
“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,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). “Mothers should be able to access child support payments as soon as she is supporting a child. Our bill makes this possible.”
Since a draft of the Court’s Dobbs ruling was released months ago, there has been wide speculation that a decision de-federalizing abortion and returning the issue back to the states could peel support away from Republicans.
Former President Donald Trump was reportedly worried how the issue could affect his chances in 2024.
Congressional Republicans are using the opportunity to reach out to women ahead of the midterms.
“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,” said Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a co-sponsor of the bill.
