An Ohio lawmaker wants parents to be able to claim unborn children on their state income taxes.
Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, introduced a bill this month that would allow Ohioans to include embryos or fetuses conceived during the taxable year as dependents. Only the mother can claim the embryo or fetus if parents file separate tax returns, according to the bill’s tex t.
Click said in a news release announcing the bill that by allowing parents to claim children as dependents beginning the year they were conceived rather than the year they were born, expectant families could better manage the costs of childbirth and raising a newborn.
“Any parent can tell you that the costs of child-rearing begin piling up well before a baby is born. We should absolutely be in the practice of supporting young families. Passing this bill will be an easy step in that direction,” Click said.
Georgia, Utah have similar policies
After the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Georgia Department of Revenue recognizes embryos that have a detectable heartbeat and meet six weeks of gestation as dependents.