119-s230

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 230 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 230

 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 23, 2025

 Mr. Cramer (for himself, Mr. Banks, Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Britt, Mr. 
 Daines, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Marshall, and 
 Mr. Wicker) 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 collected and distributed under 
 the child support enforcement program, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Unborn Child Support Act''.

SEC. 2. CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT ON BEHALF OF UNBORN CHILDREN.

    (a) State Plan Amendment.--

Section 454 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 654) is amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (4)
        (A) --
        (A) in clause
            (i) --
            (i) by inserting ``, including an unborn 
 child,'' after ``child''; and
            (ii) by inserting ``and'' after the 
 semicolon; and
        (B) in clause
            (ii) , by inserting ``, including an 
 unborn child'' after ``other child'';

    (2) in paragraph

    (33) , by striking ``and'' after the 
 semicolon;

    (3) in paragraph

    (34) , by striking the period and inserting 
 ``; and'';

    (4) by inserting after paragraph

    (34) , the following:
 ``

    (35) provide that the State will establish and enforce 
 child support obligations of the biological father of an unborn 
 child (and subsequent to the birth of the child) to the mother 
 of such child provided that--
 ``
        (A) the mother has requested payment of such 
 child support obligations;
 ``
        (B) the start date for such obligations may begin 
 with the first month in which the child was conceived, 
 as determined by a physician (and shall begin with that 
 month if the mother so requests);
 ``
            (C) payments for such obligations may be 
 retroactively collected or awarded, including in the 
 case where paternity is established subsequent to the 
 birth of the child;
 ``
            (D) the payment amount for such obligations shall 
 be determined by a court, in consultation with the 
 mother, taking into account the best interests of the 
 mother and child;
 ``
        (E) any measure to establish the paternity of a 
 child (born or unborn) shall not be required without 
 the consent of the mother; and
 ``
        (F) any measure to establish the paternity of an 
 unborn child shall not be taken if the measure poses 
 any risk of harm to the child if unborn.''; and

    (5) by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of 
 paragraphs

    (4) and

    (35) , the term `unborn child' means a member 
 of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who 
 is carried in the womb.''

    (b) Limitation of Waiver Authority.--

Section 1115 of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1315) is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a) , in the matter preceding paragraph

    (1) , by striking ``In the case of'' and inserting ``Except as 
 provided in subsection
            (c) , in the case of'';

    (2) in subsection

    (b)

    (1) , in the matter preceding 
 subparagraph
        (A) , by striking ``In the case of'' and inserting 
 ``Except as provided in subsection
            (c) , in the case of''; and

    (3) by striking subsection
            (c) and inserting the following:
 ``
            (c) No experimental, pilot, or demonstration project undertaken 
under subsection

    (a) to assist in promoting the objectives of part D of 
title IV, may permit modifications of paragraphs

    (4)
        (A)
            (ii) and

    (35) of 

section 454 to establish and enforce child support obligations of the 
biological father of an unborn child. For purposes of the preceding 
sentence, the term `unborn child' means a member of the species homo 
sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.''.
            (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this 
Act and shall apply to payments under part D of title IV of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) for calendar quarters beginning on 
or after such date.
 <all>