“These men – look most of these women do not want to have abortions. But, they feel like they have no other options, cause they get no support,” said Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
They're putting themselves into an awkward position to have to accept that a fetus is a person and thus eligible to receive tax deductions, use the car pool lane, etc.
I think they'd gladly accept those changes. I agree that men should be financially responsible from the point of conception but the language of calling it "child support" is definitely intentional and nefarious. They want zygotes to be looked at socially and legally as people to legitimize total abortion bans and the harsh punishments that follow.
I want to see how this goes in court when people can't test paternity for months. You see it makes a decent headline but is neither applicable nor effective for government or citizens.
I'm pretty sure this is just another step to make miscarriages punishable. If they can wrangle zygote personhood they can make any abortion both illegal and murder. They can then try to punish any women who miscarry.
Babies aren't tested the minute they're born. They get tested some time after birth and the father then owes the back child support. It would be the exact same thing, except the father would be on the hook for an extra 9 months of payments.
This is entirely meant to kickstart another conversation over fetal personhood.
A couple of people have said that they don't know what kind of pandora's box they'd be opening, as it would also allow things like pregnant women claiming their fetuses as dependents, along with other tax breaks. It means women being able to collect child support, etc.
And the GOP are going to say this too. They're going to tell you just how much you can expect to get if you continue the pregnancy. They're going to package this as their "devotion to doing whatever it takes to support women and their children as part of the right to life movement."
"Following through with pregnancy will entitle women to thousands of dollars in additonal tax breaks by being able to claim additional exemptions in their tax returns for the year they're pregnant, which can be used to support women who otherwise would not have had the funds available to buy everything she needs at this most critical time, leading to difficult choices that could have been avoided."
And they will hammer this home. Until they get fetal personhood established and abortion banned. The minute they get their way, watch how quickly these tax breaks get rescinded in the next GOP-controlled budget. Watch how quickly they try to sunset these tax breaks as quickly as possible by burying it on page 47, paragraph 4 of a routine must-pass bill that would otherwise have gotten no attention. Watch how quickly the next "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" is almost entirely funded by cutting off these benefits. Heck, half of me believes that not only would they rescind the tax breaks, they'll somehow make pregnant women pay it back retroactively.
If it's not this specific topic, it'll be something. The overall game plan is this:
Make whatever promises are necessary in order to get a national abortion bill passed without too much public blowback.
The fact that they'd get charged with two murders instead of one would mean exactly nothing. If life in prison without the possibility of parole isn't a deterrent for them, it won't matter if they kill one person, two, or a busload of nuns.
While I agree that some dude who gets a female pregnant should chip in for prenatal expenses, I’m sure the intended consequence of this law is to mess with the status of the fetus in regards to abortion.
Does this include rapists? What about women who rape men or boys and they get pregnant, are those men/boys on the hook for child support too? With Republicans knee jerk reactions and blanket laws, then yes, probably.
The courts would not know what to do with this. You need to either have verified paternity or be acting in a fatherly role to be on the hook for child support. You can't fulfill either conditions on conception.
Edit:
If paternity is contested, the biological father shall not be obligated to pay such expenses until paternity is established.
Essentially it requires amniotic fluid sampling to establish paternity, which presents a danger to the fetus and makes this bill toothless. Also theoretically allows awarding retroactively after paternity is established. I'm not totally against it frankly, prenatal care is vital and expensive. I'd rather the state just pay for it though and the wording obviously needs to be thrown out.
The courts would not know what to do with this. You need to either have verified paternity or be acting in a fatherly role to be on the hook for child support. You can’t fulfill either conditions on conception.
They could just establish paternity post-birth and force the father to pay retroactively. That's pretty much what already happens now. Only difference is that the dad would just be on the hook for an additional 9 months in back child support, most of which will likely go uncollected.
Wtf. They simultaneously want to stop population decline by having more babies, but are creating the atmosphere where no one will have sex. This is Handmaid’s Tale logic.
Isn’t this the dude who was given a bronze star for participating at guantanamo? Like he didn’t even do anything, they just gave it to him because he has no self esteem and is a just a bitch ass loser?
Edit: not complaining at all, downvotes are an important part of user content moderation. Just curious what I’ve done here that people don’t like? Is there something against ChatGPT? Is it my use of the term “shitty website” (which I’m just re-using from OP)?
Original:
In case you don’t want to visit said shitty website, here’s a ChatGPT summary:
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, has stated that he believes fathers should be responsible for child support from the moment of conception. He expressed this view during an interview with Fox News, emphasizing the importance of supporting women who choose not to have abortions due to lack of support from fathers. He mentioned legislation in Florida that aims to encourage fathers to pay child support and highlighted expanded postpartum medical care and adoption options. However, DeSantis' comments sparked backlash on social media, with concerns about enforcement challenges and the adequacy of support for victims of rape or incest. This discussion occurs amid a reversal in the long-term decline in abortion rates following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade protections. Most Americans support legal access to abortion to some degree, and many disagree with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.