Those who have followed me on Twitter a while know I’ve been conducting research for much of the year on US laws relating to abortion. I’ve tried to present them in ways to educate people on both sides of the debate.

1/

On Twitter, I frequently see the argument presented by pro-choicers that men have no say in the abortion debate until they have to pay child support during pregnancy.

Though used as a diversionary tactic in debate, the premise of prenatal child support is a very valid point.

2/

When reading Georgia’s LIFE Act earlier this year, I saw this was actually something addressed in Section 5. Once the Act had a preliminary injunction placed upon it for the vague expansion of personhood, that provision was blocked.

3/

The LIFE Act’s provision got me thinking: Was Georgia the 1st state to offer the concept of prenatal child support, or do other states already implement it?

What I’ve found is it’s actually fairly common! Here’s Ohio’s statute on it, requiring payment for several expenses.

4/

I’m still conducting my research but have found the following states require prenatal child support payments: AR, GA, IN, KY, MS, NY, OH, and OR. (States not requiring payments include AK, AZ, NC, and WA.)

5/

Once I finish this research sometime in December, I will publish a full list of statutes & a color-coded map of the US. At that point, I would lake to take on a cause w/ friends on both the pro-choice & pro-life sides:

6/

I think we should create a petition campaign to legislators in all states that lack prenatal child support laws & push for the implementation of such laws. Men need to step up before birth, since it takes two to tango.

7/

We can try to combine key aspects of existing state laws as a basis &

Let me know what you think of this idea & of you would like to take part in the petition drive.

8/8

(Seeing who may be interested in the proposal)

@AbbyJohnson @Personhood4All @PPact @HumanDefenseINI @PatriciaHeaton @MattWalshBlog
#ProChoice #ProLife