Thread by @DSiPaint

W/ Judge Jones striking down Georgia’s LIFE Act (HB481, 2019), the topic of #PrenatalChildSupport has, once again, returned to the media discourse, due to §5 of the act. Unfortunately, authors of the articles on HB481 are doing a disservice by being unfamiliar w/ the topic.

1/

Here is an excerpt of the Act & the resulting Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 19-6-15(a.1)(2), for reference.

The typical discussion is that Georgia had a wild, new idea of allowing a pregnant woman to collect child support for her unborn child.

legis.ga.gov/legislation/en…

2/

There are multiple problems w/ the media reports:
* #PrenatalChildSupport isn’t a new concept
* Georgia already had such requirements
* OCGA § 19-6-15(a.1)(2) was simply meant to clarify what already existed for the state.

3/

Here is OCGA § 19-7-49(c), which was enacted in 1997 w/i HB284 (Ga.L. 1997 p.1613) to bring the state under compliance w/ the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (Pub.L. 104-193 §331)

neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/le…

4/

Among other things, this Federal-level Act updated 42 US Code §666(a)(5)(K) in Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to provide uniform requirements for #PrenatalChildSupport across all US states & territories, allowing interstate claims.

govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PL…

5/

Since “...evidence of costs of pregnancy, child birth, and genetic testing...” is vague, GA’s legislature clarified in HB481 “...direct medical and pregnancy related expenses of the mother of the unborn child.”

But this 1997 amended section in the OCGA wasn’t the beginning.

6/

OCGA § 19-7-49(c) inherited older Georgia Code § 74-9902(d), which the 1997 act only replaced. Here is the previous text in 1980’s HB390 (Ga.L. 1980 p.1374) covering “expenses paid by or incurred on behalf of the mother due to the birth of the child”

neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/le…

7/

But it doesn’t stop in 1980. HB390 simply replaced even earlier text from 1951’s HB33 (Ga.L. 1951 No.124 §4(b) p.111).

metis.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/le…

8/

Even 1951 isn’t the beginning. That comes way back in 1793 w/ the “Bastardy” code in Acts 1793 Vol I ch.42.

9/

GA’s concept of #PrenatalChildSupport was definitely not new in 2019, but it absolutely was in 1793. GA was actually the 1st state to ever to pass such legislation. (PA does predate it by a few decades in court proceedings, but it wasn’t written into law there until 1860.)

10/

So how many states currently have #PrenatalChildSupport laws? Actually, all of them do. The average year in which states 1st enacted such requirements was 1928.

11/

Last year, when I 1st learned of GA’s “new” requirement, I thought it was a novel concept, so I started researching to see if any states already had #PrenatalChildSupport laws. This research took several months, as I found no one ever seemed to have researched the topic.

12/

I uncovered so much history for it that I started compiling the research into a book, which is nearing completion. I see it as important that the general public learn that #PrenatalChildSupport is universal in the US, so hopefully this book will change perceptions.

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