I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7052 

To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that 

child support for unborn children is collected and distributed under 

the child support enforcement program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 18, 2024 

Ms. TENNEY (for herself, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. CLINE, Mr. MOOLENAAR, 

Mrs. LUNA, Mr. OGLES, and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to ensure that child support for unborn children is collected and distributed under the child support enforcement program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unborn Child Support 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT ON BEHALF OF 

2 UNBORN CHILDREN. 

3 (a) STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.—Section 454 of the 

4 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)— 

6 (A) in clause (i)— 

7 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including an unborn 

8 child,’’ after ‘‘child’’; and 

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semi10 colon; and 

11 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, including 

12 an unborn child’’ after ‘‘other child’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (33), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

14 the semicolon; 

15 (3) in paragraph (34), by striking the period 

16 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (34), the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(35) provide that the State will establish and 

20 enforce child support obligations of the biological fa21 ther of an unborn child (and subsequent to the birth 

22 of the child) to the mother of such child provided 

23 that— 

24 ‘‘(A) the mother has requested payment of 

25 such child support obligations; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the start date for such obligations 

2 may begin with the first month in which the 

3 child was conceived, as determined by a physi4 cian (and shall begin with that month if the 

5 mother so requests); 

6 ‘‘(C) payments for such obligations may be 

7 retroactively collected or awarded, including in 

8 the case where paternity is established subse9 quent to the birth of the child; 

10 ‘‘(D) the payment amount for such obliga11 tions shall be determined by a court, in con12 sultation with the mother, taking into account 

13 the best interests of the mother and child; 

14 ‘‘(E) any measure to establish the pater15 nity of a child (born or unborn) shall not be re16 quired without the consent of the mother; and 

17 ‘‘(F) any measure to establish the pater18 nity of an unborn child shall not be taken if the 

19 measure poses any risk of harm to the child if 

20 unborn.’’; and 

21 (5) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For 

22 purposes of paragraphs (4) and (35), the term ‘un23 born child’ means a member of the species homo 

24 sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried 

25 in the womb.’’. 


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1 (b) LIMITATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 

2 1115 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1315) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

5 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘In the case of’’ and in6 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (c), in the 

7 case of’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)(1), in the matter pre9 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘In the case 

10 of’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection 

11 (c), in the case of’’; and 

12 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(c) No experimental, pilot, or demonstration project 

15 undertaken under subsection (a) to assist in promoting the 

16 objectives of part D of title IV, may permit modifications 

17 of paragraphs (4)(A)(ii) and (35) of section 454 to estab18 lish and enforce child support obligations of the biological 

19 father of an unborn child. For purposes of the preceding 

20 sentence, the term ‘unborn child’ means a member of the 

21 species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who 

22 is carried in the womb.’’. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall take effect on the date that is 2 years 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply 


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1 to payments under part D of title IV of the Social Security 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) for calendar quarters begin3 ning on or after such date. 

Æ 


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