Posted on 07/29/2005 8:51:35 PM PDT by Lorianne
JEFFERSON CITY - Some Republican legislators want to charge unwed fathers thousands of dollars for hospital birth costs incurred by low-income mothers on Medicaid.
"But the last time I checked, it takes two people to make a baby. And there is some responsibility, not just for child support, but for the cost of bringing that child successfully into the world," said Shields, R-St. Joseph.
Medicaid pays for 43 percent of the births in Missouri. At an average cost of $3,286 a birth, the tab hit $120.6 million last year. Nearly two-thirds of the moms on Medicaid are unmarried.
Critics say mother and baby would suffer under Shields' proposal because some women would give up Medicaid and forgo prenatal care rather than cooperate in efforts to bill the father for hospital costs.
Studies in other states have concluded that birth recovery policies discourage fathers from voluntarily establishing paternity and take money that otherwise would help low-income fathers support their children. That is especially true in families where the unmarried parents live together as a family.
"In reality, there are a lot of fathers that just don't have the income," said Ruth Ehresman, policy director of Citizens for Missouri's Children.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Best thing to do is cancel Medicaid ENTIRELY.
Let people figure out in advance how they will pay for a child -- before they get the process started.
Perhaps these guys should think about investing in a heavy-duty zipper.
They should only be charged for 50% of the bill.
Dad'll just shell out the $250 for an abortion instead.
Is this from one the states that ruled that a 'father' is any man the mother accuses of being, "DNA testing" be damned...
(sarcasm)God forbid, women would have to pay for their own medical bills, that would be just to much responsiblity.
Deadbeat dads are such losers, how can they have an 'unwanted' child on their conscience?
Get them on the DNA test and dock their pay. Sexual license without responsibility does have a market-based response
The welfare system encourages this. Welfare is the primary cause of dystfunctional families in this country. If the taxpayers only knew what's really going on.
They have about as much luck a putting toothpaste back in the tube ...
That's the answer.
Saying "It takes two to make a baby" isn't realistic, only the woman has control over her fertility. If she is unmarried and wants a baby she should plan to pay for it, unless the man is committed to sharing the responsibility.
If she and any family that she has cannot or will not support he baby, she can seek private charity, but should have no right or expectations that the taxpayer is going to be responsible to give her an income, an apartment, furnishings, clothing, food, a color TV, health care, etc. If the child is being deprived of the bare necessities of life, then the state may have to place the child elsewhere. It would not take long for young women to make much more responsible decisions.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
The child is "wanted,"--by the mother. The man is just the sperm-donor, the responsibility of any single man is irrelevant since the supply of sperm is infinite and the girl-who-wants-a-baby will have no problem finding a sperm-donor. There is market solution, see my post 11.
best kind of birth control there is...18 years of payments,debts,schools,braces,and then we talk about the harder stuff like college tuition....If these guys knew they would be liable,they would keep their pants zipped till they were 45 years old or get a vasectomy at the age of 16.....
great tagline....dead liberals smell the same way....
So...the man has no responsibility?
Do have any daughters, and have you had this conversation with them? Would you be as sanguine if one of them got pregnant and the father - or, in terms, teh sperm donor - fled the scene?
Yup....what YOU said......plus, women should choose their fathers VERY carefully.....any guy who doesn't want to help PAY for the birth, ain't worth making a baby with.....It used to be women looked for men who could support them, and their progeny.....now, they think women's lib means have a baby and figure out how to get US to pay the bills. Something is terribly wrong with THIS picture.
>>>They have about as much luck a putting toothpaste back in the tube ...
Since my son just painted the entire bathroom sink with a full tube of toothpaste this evening....
I can verify for you, and agree, that can't be done.
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