Iowa’s Ashley Hinson, who supports abortion ban, pushes tax credit for unborn babies

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson wants to expand the federal child tax credit to include the unborn.

Hinson, of Marion, conducted a live telephone town hall Monday night with Marilyn Musgrave, vice president of governmental affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, to give an update on her latest work to defend the unborn, expand maternal health care access and support new families.

That includes legislation to expand the federal child tax credit to apply to expecting parents. Doing so, according to Hinson’s office, would help families offset costs for the child during a woman’s pregnancy.

Hinson is leading a package of bills in the House called the Providing For Life Act, an attempt at an ambitious overhaul of the federal government’s family care system. Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio introduced its counterpart in the Senate.

“Being pro-life is about valuing life at all stages — protecting unborn children, expanding maternal care access and helping new parents support their growing families,” Hinson said. “ … The pro-life movement, in my mind, was never solely about ending abortion. It’s always been about valuing life at every stage. When Roe v. Wade was rightly overturned last year, we were all given the opportunity to do more for unborn babies, but also for new families and advancing a culture of life. This means supporting women during pregnancy, devoting resources to maternal health care access and stillbirth prevention and helping parents afford to raise their kids comfortably.”

The legislation would increase the federal child tax credit, raising it above the level established in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, which Hinson opposed. The American Rescue Plan Act did not include work requirements to qualify for the aid, which Hinson’s proposal does.

House and Senate Democrats have pushed to revive the 2021 expansion that created a fully refundable credit, paid in monthly checks that were worth a total of up to $3,600 per child each year. The expansion expired at the end of 2021. The credit is currently worth up to $2,000 per child and is partially refundable on tax returns.

Under Hinson’s bill, parents would receive a child allowance of up to $4,500 a year for children under the age of 6, and up to $3,500 for children ages 6 to 17. The credit amount decreases if household income exceeds $400,000 for married joint filers or $200,000 for single filers.

The refundable portion of the credit would phase in at a rate of 15.3 percent, beginning at the first dollar of income earned — tying the credit to tax liability, meaning it would be available only for working parents.

State and local tax deduction for individuals would be permanently eliminated to help offset the cost of the expanded credit.

The package would also retroactively expand the tax credit to unborn children. When a dependent is born, parents would become eligible to claim the tax credit in the prior year during the pregnancy, in addition to gaining access to the regular child tax credit in the current tax year. Parents would use the baby’s Social Security number to avoid fraud. It also would make the federal adoption tax credit refundable.

Other provisions of the bill would:

Hinson earlier this month also introduced bipartisan legislation to expand access to maternal health care access and prevent stillbirths.

The bill would clarify that public health agencies can use existing federal grant dollars earmarked for mothers and children to also be used for stillbirth prevention, including initiatives that encourage expectant parents to be aware of and track their babies’ movements in the womb.

Every year, more than 20,000 pregnancies in the United States end in a stillbirth, the death of an expected child at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. Research shows nearly 1 in 4 stillbirths may be preventable, and the United States is trailing other countries in making progress.

Iowa Democrats argue Hinson’s claims of seeking to uplift and strengthen Iowa families ring hollow, given her support of a nationwide abortion ban and opposition to bills by House Democrats that sought to make child care more affordable.

“If Hinson actually wants to uplift Iowa families, she would support paid family leave and provide other resources to give families good choices, not force families to sacrifice their retirements so they can care for their newborns,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a statement.

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