Two months ago, I did a post discussing whether people list the unborn on their census forms when responding to the question of how many “people” live in their house. Commenters seemed to think I was being a troll, engaging in some sort of satire. If so, government officials in Georgia share my sense of humor:
Under Georgia law, fetuses now have “full legal recognition” as living people. That means their parents can claim them as dependents on their tax returns — even before delivery.
The state’s department of revenue said Monday that it would begin recognizing “any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat … as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption” — amounting to $3,000. Taxpayers must be prepared to provide relevant medical records and documents if requested by the department. . . .
Georgia’s personhood provision is, for now, the most expansive. Not only does it grant tax breaks for fetuses, but it also requires that they be included in some population counts. It also imposes child support “on the father of an unborn child” — amounting to the “direct medical and pregnancy related expenses of the mother.”
You might wonder why the anti-abortion politicians are doing this now. Why wasn’t this change made years ago? And when you answer that question, you’ll have gone a long way toward understanding their mentality.