Unborn Child Support Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3236 To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that child support for unborn children is collected and distributed under the child support enforcement program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2020 Mr. CRAMER (for himself, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. COTTON, Mr. INHOFE, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that child support for unborn children is col- lected and distributed under the child support enforce- ment program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unborn Child Support 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3236.IS S3236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3236 IS SEC. 2. CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT ON BEHALF OF 1 UNBORN CHILDREN. 2 (a) STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.—Section 454 of the 3 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)— 5 (A) in clause (i)— 6 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including an unborn 7 child,’’ after ‘‘child’’; and 8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semi- 9 colon; and 10 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, including 11 an unborn child’’ after ‘‘other child’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (33), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 13 the semicolon; 14 (3) in paragraph (34), by striking the period 15 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 16 (4) by inserting after paragraph (34), the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(35) provide that the State will establish and 19 enforce child support obligations of the biological fa- 20 ther of an unborn child (and subsequent to the birth 21 of the child) to the mother of such child provided 22 that— 23 ‘‘(A) the mother has requested payment of 24 such child support obligations; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3236.IS S3236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3236 IS ‘‘(B) the start date for such obligations 1 may begin with the first month in which the 2 child was conceived, as determined by a physi- 3 cian (and shall begin with that month if the 4 mother so requests); 5 ‘‘(C) payments for such obligations may be 6 retroactively collected or awarded, including in 7 the case where paternity is established subse- 8 quent to the birth of the child; 9 ‘‘(D) the payment amount for such obliga- 10 tions shall be determined by a court, in con- 11 sultation with the mother, taking into account 12 the best interests of the mother and child; 13 ‘‘(E) any measure to establish the pater- 14 nity of a child (born or unborn) shall not be re- 15 quired without the consent of the mother; and 16 ‘‘(F) any measure to establish the pater- 17 nity of an unborn child shall not be taken if the 18 measure poses any risk of harm to the child if 19 unborn.’’; and 20 (5) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For 21 purposes of paragraphs (4) and (35), the term ‘un- 22 born child’ means a member of the species homo 23 sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried 24 in the womb.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3236.IS S3236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3236 IS (b) LIMITATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 1 1115 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1315) is 2 amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 4 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘In the case of’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (c), in the 6 case of’’; 7 (2) in subsection (b)(1), in the matter pre- 8 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘In the case 9 of’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection 10 (c), in the case of’’; and 11 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(c) No experimental, pilot, or demonstration project 14 undertaken under subsection (a) to assist in promoting the 15 objectives of part D of title IV, may permit modifications 16 of paragraphs (4)(A)(ii) and (35) of section 454 to estab- 17 lish and enforce child support obligations of the biological 18 father of an unborn child. For purposes of the preceding 19 sentence, the term ‘unborn child’ means a member of the 20 species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who 21 is carried in the womb.’’. 22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 this section shall take effect on the date that is 2 years 24 after the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3236.IS S3236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3236 IS to payments under part D of title IV of the Social Security 1 Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq,) for calendar quarters begin- 2 ning on or after such date. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3236.IS S3236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS