Ohio lawmaker wants to allow families to count unborn children as dependents on taxes

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 text.

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.

The Utah legislature passed a law last year allowing pregnant women to have a double dependent exemption for children the year they are born.

Fetal personhood laws across the U.S.

The bill is among other legislation and rulings recognizing fetal personhood nationally, which gained more attention after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen, fertilized embryos should be considered children.

Other fetal personhood cases and legislation include criminal penalties for killing a fetus, such as in car accidents involving pregnant women, and prosecuting pregnant women for using drugs during their pregnancy.

Advocates of fetal personhood legislation say the laws protect human life. Critics say they mean a loss of women’s autonomy.

Click’s bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Erin Glynn is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.