A bill advancing in the Kentucky legislature would allow parents to seek child support retroactively to the time of conception.
Similar bills have been proposed in other Republican-led states to confer legal rights and protections to fetuses.
The Kentucky bill would apply child support orders back to conception if obtained within a year of birth.
State Sen. Westerfield said, “That child is a human life.”
“And the support obligation begins as soon as that life begins. And I think we ought to be able to go after that,” she continued.
She explained, “So if there’s not a child support order until the child’s 8, this isn’t going to apply. Even at a year and a day, this doesn’t apply. It’s only for orders that are in place within a year of the child’s birth.”
Supporters argue the financial responsibility begins at conception when life begins.
State Sen. Danny Carroll said, “That’s where life starts.
“And that’s where that obligation to take care of that child should begin. And I think it’s a fundamental fairness issue that we do this,” added the committee’s chairman.
Opponents counter it pushes “personhood” of embryos and fetuses and could burden the court system.
Tamarra Wieder, the Kentucky State director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, wrote in a statement, “This type of bill sets the stage for personhood.”
She continued, “SB 110 is a slippery slope and one that leads us in the same direction” as the ruling in Alabama.
Wieder added, “Instead of trying to push the idea of personhood via child support, this legislature should instead look at supporting pregnant people through expanded insurance, paid leave or any number of options that might provide more inclusive benefits.”
The bill won initial approval in committee and faces a vote in the full Republican-controlled legislature, though its financial impact on county attorneys is still uncertain and could require additional state funding.
