TYLER, Texas — An East Texas senator has filed in a bill for the 2023 legislative session that would require fathers to pay child support beginning at conception once paternity is determined.
Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, authored Senate Bill 590, which orders a man to pay retroactive child support once an order has determined the child's paternity and starting at the "earliest possible date of the child's conception."
The bill's filing comes after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. Prior to the Supreme Court overturning the 1973 decision, Hughes authored the "Heartbeat Act," which made abortions illegal once a heartbeat is detected (often around six weeks into the pregnancy).
If passed, the bill would require the mother to be reimbursed for 50 percent of necessary and reasonable expenses that the mother had to pay for during gestation and delivery as well as postpartum recovery expenses that are not reimbursed by insurance.
The bill would also make the father reimburse the mother for the costs of materials in preparation for the child's birth, including: diapers, a car seat; a crib, clothing, infant formula and lost wages because of time spent receiving medical attention for child care.
If both the House of Representatives and the Senate and Gov. Greg Abbott approve the bill, it would become law on Sept. 1.
Hughes represents 19 counties across Northeast Texas, including:
- Bowie
- Camp
- Cass
- Delta
- Fannin
- Franklin
- Gregg
- Harrison
- Hopkins
- Lamar
- Marion
- Morris
- Panola
- Red River
- Rusk
- Smith
- Titus
- Upshur
- Wood