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If the STORK Act is passed, Ohio would join states such as Georgia, which already allow tax deductions for unborn children, a policy enacted in 2022. 
By Vanessa Davidson / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.
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Ohio Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) in August proposed the STORK Act, which would allow expecting families to claim their unborn children as dependents on their income taxes starting the year the child is conceived.
Click says every dollar makes a difference for expecting families.
“You start planning and preparing ahead of time,” he said. “The hospital won’t even let you take them home without a car seat. So, you have to get that car seat, you get a crib, you get a bassinet, you get a pack-and-play, and you get all the little toys for a newborn, and you just stock up before they’re born to get ready for that child.”
However, some raise concern that the proposal could lead toward the recognition of fetal personhood, which could affect abortion rights within Ohio.
Danielle Firsich, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, said Click’s proposal acts as a continued attempt to attack abortion rights following the passage of Issue 1 in 2023.
Firsich said there have been several other proposals that have tested fences and sought out loopholes to get around state codifications of reproductive rights, including similar bills proposed in Wisconsin, Florida, Kansas and Kentucky.
“We know that this argument – that someone can have tax credits for an unborn child – directly correlates with the concept that if you’re receiving some sort of tax benefit, or tax credit, you are thereby able to be recognized as a person and be granted rights as such,” Firsich said. “This is a movement that has come, largely, especially after the Dobbs decision.”
Given Click’s extensive history of pro-life advocacy – with one of his past proposals declaring fetal personhood from conception – Firsich believes the STORK Act could have possible ulterior motives.
Click denied such claims and called such rhetoric an “extremist attack.”
“This bill recognizes the expenses that parents put out,” said Click. “It doesn’t say anything about the baby… this tax credit has no power to overturn a constitutional amendment.”
Jessie Hill, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who specializes in reproductive rights in Ohio, believes the proposal will have little impact on abortion rights.
“I just don’t think that this is something that is going to really, in the end, make a big difference in light of Issue 1 still being there,” Hill said. Issue 1 is “part of our constitution, and our constitution is supreme over state law,” she added.
However, Hill believes concerns about the proposal aren’t baseless. She pointed out that it’s not clear whether parents would still be able to receive tax benefits for an unborn child even if the pregnancy isn’t carried to term.
Firsich argues that Click should demonstrate his commitment to Ohio families by expanding paid family leave and offering affordable childcare.
“That would mean real change for pregnant people and for parents in the state of Ohio, not something like this,” Firsich said.
The STORK Act is currently being reviewed by the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee.
This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.
