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House committee hears testimony on House Bill 350 to codify Uniform Parentage Act
Summary
Lawmakers and expert witnesses told the House Children and Youth Committee that House Bill 350 would modernize Pennsylvania parentage law to cover assisted reproduction, surrogacy and intent‑based parentage and to reduce inconsistent court outcomes, while preserving pregnant persons' bodily autonomy.
House Bill 350, the Uniform Parentage Act, received nearly two hours of testimony before the Pennsylvania House Children and Youth Committee on issues ranging from surrogacy contracts to how courts should determine parentage when assisted reproductive technology is used.
The bill’s prime sponsor, Representative Ben Sanchez, said the measure is intended to provide “clarity and certainty and consistency and predictability” in state parentage law. Supporters told the committee the bill would give families predictable routes to have both intended parents legally recognized at or soon after birth.
Why this matters: Witnesses said the lack of a comprehensive statutory parentage scheme in Pennsylvania produces inconsistent outcomes across counties and judges and can leave children without clear legal parents at birth, affecting access to health insurance, inheritance and child support. Judge Tara Toohill, a Luzerne County family court judge, told the committee that “defining who a legal parent is of a child can ultimately determine health insurance coverage, inheritance rights, in a state…
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