[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3485 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3485
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to establish requirements
for biological fathers to pay child support for medical expenses
incurred during pregnancy and delivery.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 13, 2023
Mr. Rubio introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to establish requirements
for biological fathers to pay child support for medical expenses
incurred during pregnancy and delivery.
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 ``Supporting Healthy Pregnancy Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING BIOLOGICAL FATHERS TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT FOR MEDICAL
EXPENSES INCURRED DURING PREGNANCY AND DELIVERY.
(a) In General.--Section 454 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
654) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (33), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (34), by striking the period and inserting
``; and'';
(3) by inserting after paragraph (34), the following:
``(35) provide that the State shall establish and enforce a
child support obligation of the biological father of a child to
pay for not less than 50 percent of the reasonable out-of-
pocket medical expenses (including health insurance premiums or
similar charge, deductions, cost sharing or similar charges,
and any other related out-of-pocket expenses) the mother of the
child is responsible for that are incurred during, and
associated with, the pregnancy and delivery of the child,
provided that the mother requests the payment of such
support.''.
(b) Rule of Construction.--
(1) In general.--Nothing in paragraph (35) of section 454
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654), as added by
subsection (a), shall be construed to imply that an expense
associated with an abortion is a medical expense.
(2) Abortion defined.--For purposes of this subsection, the
term ``abortion'' means the use or prescription of any
instrument, medicine, drug, or other substance or device to
intentionally--
(A) kill the unborn child of a woman known to be
pregnant; or
(B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy of a woman
known to be pregnant, with an intention other than to--
(i) increase the probability of a live
birth or of preserving the life or health of
the child after live birth; or
(ii) remove an ectopic pregnancy or a dead
unborn child.
(c) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the amendments
made by subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1 of the
first calendar year that begins after the date of enactment of
this Act.
(2) Delay if state legislation required.--In the case of a
State plan under part D of title IV of the Social Security Act
which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines
requires State legislation (other than legislation
appropriating funds) in order for the plan to meet the
additional requirement imposed by the amendments made by this
Act, the State plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply
with the requirements of such part solely on the basis of the
failure of the plan to meet such additional requirement before
the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the
close of the first regular session of the State legislature
that begins after the date of enactment of this Act. For
purposes of the previous sentence, in the case of a State that
has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session
shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of the State
legislature.
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