Sen. Hughes bill proposes making child support begin at conception

AUSTIN, Texas (KLTV) - An East Texas legislator has filed a bill which would make child support enforced at conception.

Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) has filed SB 590. It states a court shall order a man to pay retroactive child support beginning on the earliest possible date of a child’s conception, once it is determined who the father is. The bill also states the father must reimburse the child’s mother for 50 percent of medical expenses incurred by the mother and child during gestation and delivery and postpartum recovery. The father will also be responsible for cost of materials purchased by the mother in preparing for the child’s birth, including diapers, a car seat, crib, clothing and infant formula. The bill also states the father would be responsible for 50 percent of lost wages as a result of time spent receiving medical attention in relation to the birth.

Hughes said this comes on the heels of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“Someone raised the point of child support,” Hughes said in an interview on East Texas Now on Friday. “Why should the mom carrying the child have to bear the financial burden by herself when there’s a father who ought to be responsible? Why should we wait until birth to have that father be responsible for that child? So it just makes sense. So let’s begin when that life begins and not at birth. It’s a pro-mother, pro-baby bill. So we’re excited about it.”

Copyright 2023 KLTV. All rights reserved.