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Contested 'STORK Act' amendment passes 7–4 as opponents warn of reproductive‑rights and administrative risks
Summary
Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill 87 that pares back sales‑tax exemptions while keeping a conception‑dependent tax benefit; reproductive‑rights and family‑policy groups testified that the bill creates surveillance and legal risks and urged alternatives such as a newborn credit.
The Ohio House Ways and Means Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill 87, the STORK Act, after hours of testimony that split the panel along policy and constitutional lines.
Representative Klick, sponsor of the amendment, said the revision preserves a tax provision that would allow a taxpayer to claim a conceived child as a dependent in the year of conception while removing a package of sales‑tax exemptions for infant items to reduce the bill’s price tag. Klick told the committee the change reduced the bill’s estimated fiscal cost from about $26 million to roughly $6 million and argued the measure aims to help families with the expenses that accompany a new child.
Opponents from reproductive‑rights and family‑support organizations told the committee the provision is constitutionally suspect and administratively unworkable. Jamie Maricle, deputy director at Abortion Forward, said the bill “creates a system in which the state is directly penalizing and discriminating against an individual's voluntary exercise of their right to have an abortion.” She warned the measure could generate sensitive data, lead to intrusive inquiries into pregnancy outcomes and disproportionately harm people of color and immigrants.
Danielle Fierczyk of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio said the bill risks establishing fetal personhood through tax law and urged the committee to favor more administrable family supports such as a newborn tax credit. "This bill makes reproductive rights statewide vulnerable to attacks as it grants legal recognition to a fetus as a separate person," Fierczyk said, listing privacy and enforcement risks and a Tax Policy Center analysis that recommended alternatives.
Molly Ramp, founder and CEO of Just Choice, told the committee the bill’s adoption‑related provisions could create coercive pressure on pregnant people and complicate ethical adoption practice by permitting prospective adoptive families to claim a fetus as a dependent prior to birth.
After debate and a roll call, the committee recorded a 7–4 vote to adopt the amendment. The roll call as read by the clerk recorded yes votes by Chairman Romer, Vice Chair Thomas, Representative Klick, Daniels, Lear, Richardson and Santucci; no votes by Ranking Member Troy, Glassburn, Rogers and Siegrist; Representative Dimitrio was excused.
Members continued to discuss alternatives such as a newborn tax credit and administrative questions about how the Department of Taxation would verify pregnancy outcomes. The committee did not advance the full bill to final passage during the session and invited further technical talks and stakeholder discussions.
