This guest post is from Cassidy Pettit, Regent Law 2L:
This legal change comes after the
bill was signed by Utah Governor Spencer Cox in March of 2021 and took effect
on May 5th, 2021. This law is believed to be the first of its kind
in the United States, with no other states taking any similar action in the
past few years. The law will require that a biological father pay 50% of a
pregnant woman’s out-of-pocket medical expenses if she is the mother of his
child. These medical expenses include health insurance premiums as well as the
hospital bill after birth.
The law amends the terms of the
Utah Child Support Act in relation to pregnancy and stipulates that in cases
where paternity is in question the costs would only be due after confirmation
of paternity. The law also does not require a biological father to be held
financially responsible if the woman gets an abortion, except in cases where
abortion is deemed medically necessary.
There have been some criticisms
of this law as it has been moving forward and making an impact on individuals.
One of the biggest criticisms is that this law would financially tie women to
abusers, however, the law does not require or force women into these situations;
rather, it is just a legal option that is available to them. The other
criticism is that this law doesn’t do enough to address maternal needs, but
most agree that this is a great first step and a bigger step than has been
taken previously.
Overall, the law is not trying to
be directly tied to abortion but instead trying to be a prolife action to
increase the responsibility men have in bringing children into the world, and
to rebuild family restoration.
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