Ohio lawmakers want to allow parents to claim ‘conceived children' on income taxes
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio lawmakers are reviving an effort to allow parents to claim 'conceived children' as dependents on their state income taxes.
Reps. Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) introduced House Bill 87, named the Strategic Tax Options for Raising Kids (STORK) Act, last week. The legislation would allow Ohioans to include embryos or fetuses conceived during the taxable year as dependents, starting on Jan. 1, 2026. If a taxpayer and their spouse were to file separate returns, only the expecting mother could claim the embryo or fetus.
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'The costs of starting and raising a family begin before childbirth,' Click said in a news release. 'This bill will provide young, working middle-income families with a tax break they need and deserve.'
HB 87 is similar to a bill Click introduced last year under the same name, which ultimately did not pass by the end of the legislative session. The new bill features a few changes, including clarifying that embryos or fetuses lost to miscarriage could still be claimed as dependents, but those that are aborted could not. It also specifies children conceived by 'assisted reproduction,' such as IVF, would count as dependents.
Click said he got the idea for the bill when he introduced the Personhood Act in July 2022, which would have added to the Ohio Revised Code that personhood of an individual is declared from the moment of conception. The Personhood Act did not pass.
'In the midst of the conversation, somebody was really being a smart aleck, and they said 'Well, can we claim them on our taxes?'' Click previously told NBC4. 'And I thought, 'Well, you know, that actually does make sense.''
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While Klopfenstein said the legislation is a step toward ensuring Ohio is 'the best place to raise a family,' critics of the bill have stated it is an attempt to classify fetuses as people and undermine abortion rights in the state. Abortion Forward Deputy Director Jaime Miracle called the bill a 'sneak attack' on reproductive rights and said there are numerous other ways legislators could help local families, such as addressing paid family leave and childcare deserts.
'Rep. Click's true agenda is clear,' Miracle said. 'His goal is to undermine reproductive healthcare access. He doesn't actually care about Ohio families.'
Click said last year that the effort is not an attempt to recognize legal personhood for fetuses, and that a bill cannot undo the state's constitutional amendment that codifies Ohioans' right to abortion.
'This could be pro-life or pro-choice,' he said in August. 'Either way, people on both sides have babies, and to recognize that parents have expenses for those babies before the baby comes just seems logical to me.'
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The lawmakers cited statistics from the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation, which state the average cost of having a baby including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care in the U.S. was $18,865 in 2022, and for those enrolled in healthcare plans, the average out-of-pocket cost was $2,854.
The STORK Act was referred to the House's Ways and Means Committee, where it awaits its first hearing. The bill currently has 11 Republican cosponsors.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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