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Under Georgia law, fetuses now have “full legal recognition” as living persons. This means their parents can claim them as dependents on their tax returns, even before delivery.
The state revenue department said Monday it would begin recognizing “any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat … as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax exemption.” , in the amount of $3,000. Taxpayers must be prepared to provide relevant medical records and documents if requested by the department.
Tax benefit is a by-product of a law which went into effect on July 20 banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. Georgia House Bill 481 initially passed in 2019, but was ruled unconstitutional, given the protections granted by Roe v. Wade. After that longstanding precedent was overturned in June, a federal appeals court cleared the way for Georgia’s abortion ban to become law. The court also agreed that “personhood” could be redefined to include fetuses.
The concept of enshrining personhood in anti-abortion politics is not new. Among the states that consider embryos to be separate persons are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas and Missouri, the Associated Press reported. Other states, including Colorado, Mississippi and North Dakota, have tried to do so, but the proposed laws have so far failed, according to AP.
EXPLAINER: What is the role of the person in the abortion debate?
Georgia’s personality benefit is, at the moment, the most extensive. It not only grants tax breaks for fetuses, but also requires that they be included in some population counts. It also imposes child support “on the father of an unborn child,” which amounts to “the direct and pregnancy-related medical expenses of the mother.”
But given the prevalence of miscarriages and stillbirths, some wondered what the implications The new tax policy could mean for those suffering from pregnancy loss. Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis speculated on Twitter that the state’s treasury could end up “handing out a lot of cash for pregnancies that would never come to term.”
Lauren Groh-Wargo, campaign manager for Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, questioned whether the pregnancy loss could trigger an investigation. “So what happens when you claim your fetus as a dependent and then miscarry later in the pregnancy, you get investigated for both tax fraud and illegal abortion?” she tweeted.
Neither the bill nor the guidelines issued by the Georgia Department of Revenue address what would happen in the event of a miscarriage.
The law also creates other gray areas. For example, what are the implications for couples using a surrogate? And when it comes to sperm donors or cases of uncertain paternity, who would be responsible for providing child support?
The Washington Post has reached out to the Georgia Department of Revenue for clarification. The department’s guidance states that additional information, “including return instructions for claiming the personal exemption for an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat” – will be issued later this year.
Stacey Abrams, a Democrat running for governor, said on July 20 that she was “furious” about the law banning abortion after detecting a fetal heartbeat. (Video: The Washington Post)
Georgia’s ban bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, usually around the time doctors can begin to detect heart activity. Exceptions include pregnancies caused by rape and incest, if a police report is filed, and pregnancies that would result in a woman’s death or serious harm, although not harm based “on a diagnosis or claim of a mental condition or emotional”. In addition, the law does not prohibit terminations for non-viable pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies or spontaneous abortions, commonly known as miscarriages.
Georgia’s law underscores the vast differences between states and a dizzying lack of consensus regarding personhood.
Abortion is prohibited in these states. See where the laws have changed.
In Missouri, abortion is prohibited except in cases of danger to life, based on the “right to life of the unborn.” At the same time, a divorce cannot be finalized there if one of the spouses is pregnant. The reason: State divorce law doesn’t consider fetuses to be persons, so there can’t be a “court order ordering visitation and child support for a child that doesn’t exist,” the Riverfront reported Times.
Last month, a case in Texas made headlines after a pregnant woman was pulled over for driving alone in a busy lane. When officers asked where the other passenger was, Brandy Bottone responded that her baby counted as a passenger, given the overturned Roe and state abortion policy.
“The laws don’t speak the same language, and it’s all been a little confusing, honestly,” he told The Post.