No dad, no money: Illinois GOP bill proposes cutting aid to single mothers, including rape victims

A new bill proposed by Illinois Republicans would strip single mothers and their children of financial aid. The draft law makes no excuse for rape victims who decide not to abort, but excludes in vitro mothers.

Currently in committee, the bill proposed by two GOP members, John Cavaletto and Keith Wheeler, would deny newborns birth certificates if their mothers will not or cannot provide the name of a biological father. 

“Absent DNA evidence or a family member’s name, a birth certificate will not be issued and the mother will be ineligible for financial aid from the State for support of the child,” the bill reads.

The bill would also take away the state’s financial support for a child born to a single mother if she fails to provide the name of the biological father or bring DNA test results identifying him within 30 days.

The draft law says that “a family that does not comply with the Vital Records Act provision concerning birth certificates of unmarried mothers shall be ineligible for aid for support of the child.”

If passed into law, amendments would have to be attached to the current law that does not require paternity records.

The Vital Act stipulates that if “the mother was not married to the father of the child at either the time of conception or the time of birth, the name of the father shall be entered on the child’s birth certificate only if the mother and the person to be named as the father have signed an acknowledgment of parentage in accordance with subsection.”

Despite the anti-abortion stance generally taken by Republicans, the bill reportedly makes no exception for victims of rape or incest. Yet, at the same time, the new requirements would not apply to “artificially inseminated mothers.”