No father, no birth certificate, no welfare

[TomFoolery]

New legislation filed in Springfield could make it extremely tough to be a single mother.
If a father is not listed on a birth certificate to a newborn child, the bill says a birth certificate would not be issued for that child and any hopes of receiving financial assistance, if needed, would be dashed. The bill does this by amending the Vital Records Act. You may be shocked to hear that HB6064, filed last week, is being sponsored by two white Republican men: Rep. John D. Cavaletto of Salem (which is a couple hours outside St. Louis), and Keith Wheeler, who represents the western 'burbs.

Here's a snippet from the proposed legislation:

“Provides that if the unmarried mother cannot or refuses to name the child's father, either a father must be conclusively established by DNA evidence or, within 30 days after birth, another family member who will financially provide for the child must be named, in court, on the birth certificate. Provides that 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.”

In other words, despite this being the year 2016, some lawmakers feel a single mother has to prove she’s somehow deserving of state aid.

If this sounds slightly familiar, it may be because it echoes some racist and classist remarks by another republican legislator, State Rep. Jeanne Ives. In September of last year, there was a floor debate in the House that ultimately killed a bill that would’ve restored subsidies lost due to the budget impasse. During this debate, Ives said:

"You need to have verifiable need. You better know who the daddy is and whether or not he can afford that child and whether or not the taxpayers should be funding that or if there's actual child support he can provide.”

While it’s entirely possible the legislation may never make it out of the rules committee, and would more than likely die due to the Democratic supermajority in the House, it’s still troublesome. “This is a punitive and outrageous bill that would have a hugely negative impact on those most likely in need of safety net programs and support,” said Ed Yohnka of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union.

We reached out to co-Sponsor Rep. Keith Wheeler, who did not return a request for comment.

http://chicagoist.com/2016/02/20/lawmakers_file_legislation_that_wou.php

I guess no matter what your feelings on people getting government assistance are, I don't think these lawmakers really understand what it means to not have a birth certificate. Whackos like sovereign citizens or fundamentalist Mormons prevent their children from escaping their lifestyle by refusing to get them birth certificates, and that's because without a birth certificate not only can you not qualify for government assistance, but you can't do other things like: enroll in public school, get a driver's license, register to vote, legally hold a job, get a passport, etc.

I guess the good news is that once they grow up with no education or ability to hold a job, they can't come with their grubby hands out asking for assistance.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Evidently you can't abort a fetus but you can abort a child.

[TomFoolery]

Evidently you can't abort a fetus but you can abort a child.

Unborn = precious gift from God that a mother selflessly is choosing to have
Recently born = fuck you and the lady you rode in on

And just maybe... if they baby has reasonably dark enough skin we can deport it when it gets older.

[doorknob]

I just got done talking to my best friends daughter who is 17. She's very stressed out about getting a job while pregnant and all that. I just got done telling her to enroll in welfare. Lucky for her the father is.


I on the other hand tried to make the father stick around but no matter what I did or how good I was he wanted nothing to do with me in the end. While I do know who the father is I'd be one of those mothers who would be told tough shit all because I made the mistake of loving the wrong person!

Republicans are heartless uncaring assholes! They hide behind religion but they practice nothing that religion teaches.

[Baruch]

So sorry ... y'all have to magically change into upper middle class Wonder Bread (tm) or we are going to oppress y'all's ass!  Such a wonderful country, to magically change back into the shitty place I left back in the 1950s (by growing older).

[TomFoolery]

There's just so much about this that makes no sense, even after you consider that it would be needlessly punishing a child for being born into a certain set of circumstances.

The bill would allow for another family member willing to provide for the child to be listed on the birth certificate? Imagine explaining to your kid when she grows up exactly why Uncle Steve or grandpa is listed as her father.

Barring that, any woman who would not or could not list a father on a birth certificate doesn't get one for her child whether or not she needs government assistance? What about single women who use donated sperm from sperm banks? What about women trying to escape abusive relationships? You can't just put a guy's name on a birth certificate: unless you're married they have to get a DNA test or sign an affidavit of paternity. So it does little to address the occasional literal impossibility of tracking someone down for a DNA test due to problems such as death, incarceration, having a common name, living in a foreign country, or rape.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Well, everyone knows that a rapist always has to provide a picture ID to any woman he rapes..

These fuckers talk about people picking themselves up from their bootstraps when the truth is the very subject or even idea of lifting themselves out of poverty is completely foreign to them.
It reminds me of a 60 year old virgin telling you what an expert they are in sex even though they've never once been touched intimately by another human being or 60 year old people who have never raised children tell everyone who has all about raising kids..

[Draconic Aiur]

Evidently you can't abort a fetus but you can abort a child.

it's super retarded and It's what's wrong with our society

[drunkenshoe]

I'll look at this very primitively and straight. This is pretty much something done to 'scare' people -first women- not to have a functional adult relationship out of marriage. Because in their head that's ALL the problem. And taking a revenge for it if they 'fall' into a position if they do it. Actively preventing them from deciding to become single mothers. It's an official threat. We have same the kind of bullshit.

Also it's a good manual on how to raise an individual full of hatred against society and may be even a criminal. It's a good thing fire arms are not very easily accessible or abundant in the country. Err...what?

[Baruch]

Most crimes, violence and gun play are ... male activities.  This is very fortunate, or few husbands would survive ;-)

See my response in the Christian section regarding puritanism.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Most crimes, violence and gun play are ... male activities.  This is very fortunate, or few husbands would survive ;-)

See my response in the Christian section regarding puritanism.

This is why I support gender equality. If we can't make men behave better we should give women the chance to behave worse. That way things level out. Until the violent crime index is gender neutral we're going to have injustice in this country!

[drunkenshoe]

Most crimes, violence and gun play are ... male activities. 

Also the majority of victims in certain crimes and wars are males. Majority of the suicide deaths are males.

Women are catching up slowly but steadily. Even in a marginal field like serial killers the amount of female serail killers steadily rose up since 70s in the States alone. And females are more efficient killers than males, less suspected all the time.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Time for the MRA's to come out in full force in support of being named as the father of kids to mothers they have never meet because they most certainly would want to have to pay child support for kids that they had nothing to do with..

In the world of utter stupidity this is right up there with people who want to be treated like garbage just so they can tell you just how they overcame the garbage label.. I had a thought that made more sense, but got distracted so...oh never mind..

[SGOS]

Legislators at the state level include a lot of marginal leaders.  It's hopeless even trying to figure out how some of them think.