‘Forced’ Pregnancy For Child Support at Conception Is Not An Even Swap

Kenya N. Rahmaan

The country experienced a significant change in national policy when the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned the controversial landmark decision, Roe vs. Wade. This action caused such an uproar because, according to Lawrence Hurley and Andre Chung, the 1973 ruling recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion. Although the battle to overturn the verdict has been ongoing for almost fifty years, the newest leader of the veto crusade was the Mississippi Attorney General, Lynn Fitch. The decision for Fitch’s campaign to repeal Roe was, in part, the response to a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks after pregnancy (Nick Mordowanec, 2022).

Unsurprisingly, tempers are flaring as people react to the idea of abortions being unavailable to vulnerable women. To be clear, the right to an abortion has been overturned on a national level, which means that the decision to permit abortions is now the state’s decision. Sarah Knight, Wynne Davis, Christin, Gourlay, Carmel Wroth, and Haidee Chu (2022) explain that abortion is illegal or heavily restricted in at least 12 states, while ten other states have laws in place that paves the way to ban or severely restrict access. Many worry about the fate of unhealthy, financially unstable women or simply women who are not ready to have a child at this time in their lives.

None of the most common issues with forced pregnancies compare to the macabre forecasts so many predict from the new abortion bans. Laura Briggs, Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amhurst (2022), explains that 10% of women who would statistically be denied an abortion in Texas:

face a startingly high likelihood of death, 18.5 per 100,000,
have one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States,
has one of the ten most dangerous jobs in the United States right, next to farming and firefighting,
has more likelihood to die during pregnancy, especially in Texas, if she is Black, indigenous, or Latinx,
has the highest maternal mortality rate if she is a Black, and
has a rate of dying three times higher than white women if she is Black.

Considering such dier results of forced pregnancy and birth, the possibility of saving Roe looks extraordinarily bleak. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, described three possible legislative solutions that could possibly restore women’s rights to abortion. In a June 27th press release, Speaker Pelosi shared that the Democratic Caucus was exploring avenues to protect the health and freedom of American women (Nancy Pelosi, 2022). Besides clarifying Americans’ right to travel and securing personal medical records, the speaker wants to pass legislation to restore protections similar to those outlined in Roe vs. Wade.

The 117th Congress introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act or H.R. 8296 on July 7, 2022. According to Congress.gov (2022), the Act will protect a person’s ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy and protect a health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services. While arguments about abortion rights have been raging for weeks, there seems to be little traction on the bill. Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, Democratic Congresswoman representing the 2nd District in Arizona, tweeted:

On the other hand, the GOP went in a different direction and introduced legislation that has grabbed headlines and the nation’s unwavering attention. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is not known for being shy about sharing his views about parental responsibility, filed the Unborn Child Support Act. Charles Hilu from the National Review (2022) reported that the Act would amend the Social Security Act to enable women to demand child support for their babies’ biological fathers starting from conception. It did not take long for people to not only support this bill but condemn anyone daring to oppose the idea of mandated prenatal child support. Amazingly, when looking at the response to the overturning of Roe, a bill guaranteeing nine months of child support seems an insignificant trade-off for those revealing the mortality rates of women forced to give birth. Revenge seemed to motivate the response instead of health concerns for women. https://youtu.be/PFJOv1jHQ5E

Women and some men rally behind child support at conception and have voiced several reasons money is necessary. According to the L.A. Times (2022), Darren Rosenblum, a law professor, wrote, “men are the reason women become pregnant, and in many cases, they do not contribute financially during a woman’s pregnancy nor after the child is born.” To be fair, excluding cases of rape and incest, both men and women are the reason for pregnancies, and plenty of men contribute financially throughout pregnancies and a child’s life. Many Americans seem not to realize that a child support program exists. Additionally, they either don’t know or choose to ignore that men cannot simply refuse to contribute financially once the government has established child support orders.

Another compelling yet puzzling argument proposed by advocates of Rubio’s bill is the demand for the money pregnant women need while expecting. While true, having a baby costs money, prenatal child support seems hardly a good consolation prize for the risk of maternal death shared by so many pro-choice defenders. The average cost for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery is between $5000 and $11,000, which increases to between $7,500 and $14,500 for a Cesarean section (Addition Finance, 2022). These costs include prenatal care and a follow-up visit after delivery.

Although prices vary depending on the state and insurance coverage, or lack thereof, the money hardly seems appropriate to compensate for potential loss of life. There are many uncertainties at this point in the right to abortion/parenthood debate/fight. Outside of rape and incest, most would agree that nobody should be forced to carry and birth the child resulting from such an ordeal. However, Lynn Fitch, along with her Republican colleagues and millions of Americans, have made that decision for the most vulnerable women in the country.

And as a consolation prize, Senator Rubio has offered up a cash prize equivalent to peanuts in the grand scheme of things. If the Unborn Child Support Act passes, putative fathers will pay child support earlier than usual, but at what cost to their constitutional rights? Sure the man will be responsible for half, between $2,500 and $7,250 in prenatal care, but how much would it cost the government to force him to consent to a DNA test for being named as a participant in a consensual sexual encounter?

Likewise, are women supposed to ‘keep it in their pants, as so many have been saying to men for decades to mock their so-called bad decisions resulting in unplanned babies? Whatever the outcome, people should examine all options and understand what legislators are planning for the nation. The government is a corporation, and the child support and welfare systems are BIG businesses. Both require babies to generate revenue, and stakeholders don’t care what they must do to make money.

References:

117th Congress. (2022, July 18). Text – H.R.8296 – 117th Congress (2021-2022): Women’s health protection Act of 2022. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8296/text

Addition Finance. (n.d.). What’s the average cost of having a baby in 2022?. Retrieved July 31, 2022, from https://resources.additionfi.com/average-cost-of-having-a-baby

Briggs, L. (2022, May 9). The danger of forced pregnancy. Retrieved from https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/05/09/the-danger-of-forced-pregnancy/

Hilu, C. (2022, July 21). Rubio introduces bill to start child-support payments at conception. Retrieved from https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/rubio-introduces-bill-to-start-child-support-payments-at-conception/

Hurley, L., & Chung, A. (2022, June 24). U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ends constitutional right to abortion. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-abortion-idCAKBN2O516D

Kirkpatrick, A. [@RepKirkpatrick]. (2022, July 28). Congresswoman Kirkpatrick Arizona 2nd District [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/repkirkpatrick/status/1552753306400968704?s=21&t=Z_P-PhLonVEPniMG_2x0gA

Knight, S., Davis, W., Gourlay, C., Wroth, C., & Chu, H. (2022, June 24). Here’s where abortions are now banned or strictly limited and where they may be soon. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/06/24/1107126432/abortion-bans-supreme-court-roe-v-wade

Los Angeles Times. (2022, July 29). Letters to the editor: Forced vasectomies and other post-Roe ways to make men responsible. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2022-07-29/forced-vasectomies-make-men-responsible-post-roe

Mordowanec, N. (2022, June 24). Who is Lynn Fitch? The woman who helped take down Roe v. Wade. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/who-lynn-fitch-woman-who-helped-take-down-roe-v-wade-1718657

Pelosi, N. (2022). Pelosi Floor Speech on Rule Providing for Consideration of Five Major Bills Defending Americans’ Health, Security and Freedom. Retrieved from Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House website: https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/71322-0