Babies, once they are born, are a tax deduction at both the federal and state level – but Chris Gast of Right to Life of Michigan tells One News Now that lawmakers in his state are working on a bill that would further assist women financially.
"Of course, [for] pregnant women and husbands and families … there's a lot of costs related to pregnancy," he begins. "This bill would give a small tax credit [of $200] to women who are pregnant, not having [given] birth yet, but are experiencing the same sort of child bearing-related costs that any parent with a born child is."
The proposed measure states that for tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2022, "a taxpayer who is at least 12 weeks pregnant as of the last day of the tax year and has been under the care and observation of a physician since at least the twelfth week of pregnancy may claim an additional exemption under this subsection for that same tax year."
Since cost is too often a reason women decide to have an abortion, it's possible that the lives of some unborn babies will be saved because of House Bill 4644.
Gast"… There's a lot of things that we try to do in the state to get people to understand that birth is certainly important," Gast explains. "But you know, a child a week before child birth [and] a child a week after birth ought to be treated the same because that's the same child and nothing has really changed about who the child is."
The bill passed the Michigan House last week and is now headed to the Senate.
On a national level, Republican Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska reportedly plans to submit a similar measure in the U.S. House.
