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By Sarah Ladd

Kentucky Today

 

A bill that would allow Kentuckians to collect child support payments for fetuses as long as there is an order in place within a year of birth passed the Senate 36-2 Tuesday. 

Senate Bill 110, sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, can now go to the House side for consideration. 

“I believe that life begins at conception,” said Westerfield on the floor. “But even if you don’t there’s no question there are obligations and costs involved with having a child.” 

There are doctor’s visits and medical care bills even before expenses like car seats, he said. “These costs are very real and add stress to what is and should be an exciting and beautiful time in a young mother’s life,” Westerfield said in a statement. “Our courts should be able to order those costs as recoverable through a child support order.”

In allowing for retroactive child support, the Senate Majority Caucus said in a statement that Westerfield is “addressing the concern of absent fathers” in Kentucky.