GOP Tax Bill: ‘Unborn’ Can Save For College, Adoption Credit Ends

WASHINGTON, DC — Anti-abortion foes are claiming a victory in the war against Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion almost 45 years ago. And the battle lines were drawn, of all places, in the tax code overhaul unveiled Thursday by House Republicans.

Republicans' proposed tax bill — the same one that ends the adoption tax credit that offsets the cost of adoptions, which often run in the tens of thousands of dollars — allows people to designate unborn children as beneficiaries of 529 college savings accounts, defining them as children “at any stage of development.”

The inclusion of language that defines fetuses as college savers and the exclusion of the adoption credit, which advocates say will mean more children will languish in foster homes, illustrates some of the juxtapositions in what Republicans have billed as family friendly tax laws.

The contradiction didn’t appear to be lost on Congressman Mark Walker, a North Carolina Republican. “Tax Bill is strong but needs to include adoption tax credit,” Walker tweeted. “Providing a home for a child that is unwanted or special needs is pro-life!”

Personhood In The Tax Bill

The section on 529 college savings plans says, in part: “The term ‘unborn child’ means a child in utero. The term ‘child in utero’ means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.’’

The nuance wasn’t lost on people on both sides of the abortion battle line.

“A child in the womb is just as human as you or I yet, until now, the U.S. tax code has failed to acknowledge the unborn child — all while granting tax breaks for those seeking an abortion under the pretense of 'healthcare,' " Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life’s president, said, according to a report in Politico. “The proposed tax plan is a huge leap forward for an antiquated tax code, and we hope this is the first step in expanding the child tax credit to include unborn children as well.”

Abortion rights advocates said the wording in the code a back-door approach to outlawing the procedure.

“Leave it to the GOP to figure out how to stick language that would help them pass an abortion ban into a tax bill,” the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League tweeted.

In a statement, NARAL spokeswoman Kaylie Hanson Long said the language reflects “the GOP’s relentless obsession with advancing its dangerous anti-choice ideology knows no boundaries and no common sense.”

“Inserting 'personhood' language into their tax bill is just the latest example of how they're trying to turn back the clock on this country,” Long said.

Tougher To Adopt

The adoption tax credit, made permanent in 2013 by President Barack Obama, is adjusted annually for inflation, and is worth $13,570 for the current tax year. It cover adoption fees, court costs and attorney fees, travel costs and other expenses related to both domestic and international adoptions.

About 120,000 children are adopted each year, but hundreds of thousands more are waiting, according to adoption advocates. They were hopeful the credit would be spared because the chief writer of the bill, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, is the adopted father of two sons, but Brady told The Washington Post the credit “is not working.”

Many adoptive families don’t pay enough in taxes or itemize itemize the tax returns, he said, adding that an increase in the child tax credit increases from $600 to $1,600 per child. "I think this is a better approach for the vast majority of Americans who are left behind," Brady said.

Elimination of the credit drew a sharp response from Mary Boo, the executive director of the North American Council on Adoptable Children. “If they want to promote family friendly policies, who needs more help than a child without a family?” Boo told The Post.

And, said Voice for Adoption Executive Director Schylar Baber, “This will make it tougher to adopt. Period.”

Brady told The Post he is open to restoring the credit, and some of the pressure to do so is coming from his own party.

Also See: Pelosi: GOP Tax Plan Makes Suckers Of Americans

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images