Children’s Defense Fund: PA Republicans ‘starving children’ to punish new moms
An aide to Rep. Tom Caltagirone, the lone Democratic cosponsor, told Raw Story that they were “horrified” to see his name alongside the bill, promising the placement was due to “a clerical error in our office” which has since been corrected.
The bill specifically says that it would eliminate “the increment in benefits under the program for which that family would otherwise be eligible as a result of the birth of a child conceived during the period in which the family is eligible for benefits.” In other words, parents who would otherwise qualify for more food aid due to the birth of a child will no longer be eligible “as a result of” having a child while on welfare.
H.B. 2718 would carve out one exception to the penalty for women who were impregnated through rape or incest, but the bill says the request for that exception must be accompanied by “a non-notarized, signed statement from the pregnant woman stating that she was a victim of rape or incest, as the case may be, and that she reported the crime, including the identity of the offender, if known, to a law enforcement agency having the requisite jurisdiction.”
The bill adds that the written statement must declare “that the pregnant woman is aware that false reports to law enforcement authorities are punishable by law.”
Raw Story (http://s.tt/1r0Cm)
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