Last year, I published Prenatal Child Support Across the United States, a book w/ original legislation scans for every state/territory going back as far as 1793.
I originally started researching legal history after seeing how the mainstream media gave no effort in research.
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This year, Utah’s legislature expanded (Fig 1) the state’s existing prenatal child support requirements from those of 1996 (Fig 2) & 1997 (Fig 3), bringing the state from the bare minimum Federal requirements (Fig 4) to being at the forefront in the nation.
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Obviously, UT wasn’t the 1st state w/ reqs. (It was 46th.) Yet, the media reported otherwise, using Planned Parenthood & (sometimes) the bill’s sponsor as their sources, rather than actually referencing the Utah Code.
Let this thread serve as a wall-of-shame for lazy media:
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@23ABCNews (AP) - also asks if CA could have such a law (It has since 1925; tweet 5, Fig 2) @KAKEnews (AP) @WPLGLocal10 (AP) @B1039Radio (AP, w/ added notes by Joe Winner)
I could go on & on, but I’m sure the point is clear by now. One could give *some* leniency to local affiliates that publish what their national counterparts provide, but major publications like the NY Times, USA Today, ABC, Fox, NBC, etc., don’t even bother to fact check.
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Since numerous publications depends on the AP, it’s also paramount that reports be well-resourced by them so that misinformation doesn’t proliferate.
It’s also interesting that 2 CA publications asked if the state should have any such laws, when it has for a century.
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Kudos to these sources that actually did their research:
Also, here is the article I wrote on Utah’s prenatal child support legislation, referencing earlier laws & comparing the state’s requirements to those of other states:
It appears that it is Ms. Sherman who needs to read a book.
Induced abortions were homicidal acts under common law at the nation’s founding. Post-quickening ones were felonies; pre-quickening ones were misdemeanors. Statute laws started clarifying in 1821 & evolved w/ embryology
I had made a statement earlier today that induced abortions cause more pregnant women to die annually than the lives of pregnant women who are saved by them. This topic seemed worth making into a thread to explain in detail, so here we are. The focus will be on the US.
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First, it’s important to decide on a definition for an induced abortion. As is standard, this CDC definition excludes treatment for ecoptic pregnancies & post-miscarriage treatment. Since the focus is only legally induced abortions, we will discuss illegal ones separately.
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We will exclude the more-encompassing general terms “fetal homicide” or “feticide”, & focus only on actions performed or consented by the pregnant woman.
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It has come to my attention that this viral TikTok video has been spreading the claim that women can be arrested for miscarriages in 38 states. This video is propagating serious misinformation that I would like to correct.
When claims like this were made last year about Georgia’s LIFE Act, I became suspicious & decide to read the legislation for itself. It said nothing of the sort. The fears seemed to stem from the declaration of personhood to the unborn.
1. Hillman v. State (232 Ga. App. 741) established maternal immunity for fetal demise in 1998. In this case, Hillman attempted a self-induced abortion w/ a handgun & was charge w/ criminal abortion...
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.
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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.
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.
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So far, Kansas is the last state I’ve found to enact prenatal child support, doing so in 1990 & 2006. What’s unique is *how* the legislature worded it. The presumption is that the father *did* provide support during pregnancy, & the statutes list penalties when he did not.
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The 1990 legislation (SB 431) makes changes to Chapter 59 (Probate Court) of the Kansas Statutes in relation to adoption. If it can be proven that the father knew of the pregnancy & neglected to provide support, the mother can place the child for adoption w/o his veto.
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This legislation also specifically allows for the adoptive parents to provide support as part of the adoption contract. (All references to support are 2nd trimester onward.)
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Before the original park fell, Dr. Ian Malcolm warned John Hammond, “Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet’s ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that’s found his dad’s gun.”
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The humans at InGen are depicted as having hubris, thinking they are in charge w/ everything under control. When the original park turned to chaos, Dr. Ellie Sattler pointed out to Hammond, “You never had control. That’s the illusion!”
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