The state of Georgia has implemented a new tax policy to allow parents to list an embryo as a dependent. Aklima Khondoker, the chief legal officer for the New Georgia Project explained what this means for taxpayers and expectant mothers in Georgia, as well as how the regulation appears to be another way of restricting abortion access in the Peach State. "One thing that's different in Georgia's anti-abortion law as compared to other states is that it deliberately called the fetus or the embryo a person, and the reason why it's called that embryo, that collection of cells, a person, is because it wants to bestow additional rights to the to the person or or rather to the embryo that's held within the woman's body," Khondoker said.

Cheddar's News Wrap

Breaking Down Why Georgia Taxpayers Can List Embryos as Tax Dependants

Welcome back to shelters. News drop everyone. It's not unusual to claim your kids as a dependent on your tax return. But now in Georgia taxpayers can claim embryos as dependence in light of the Supreme Court's overturning of roe V wade and the state subsequent ban on abortion. Georgia recognizes any unborn child with a detectable heartbeat as a person and therefore eligible for the state's income tax dependent exemption. We gotta talk about this. So for more on this, I'm joined by a clear Macondo Kerr, chief legal officer of the new Georgia project, claim a welcome to the show. I spent many, many years in Georgia. It's so nice to have someone from the peat state. What does this mean for pregnant women in Georgia? Happy to be here. So what it means for a pregnant woman in Georgia is that if you seek to claim independency on your tax returns because you are pregnant, you are required and must be ready to provide relevant medical records or other supporting documentation if requested by the Department of Revenue. So that means that you may have to go for an intra uterine sonogram or any other procedure that will show that you are actually pregnant and are carrying at the time that you are filing for the tax returns this year. I am curious about privacy concerns surveillance in the state of Georgia. I want to give you an example here. What would happen if someone claims their fetus as a dependent then unfortunately miss carries later in their pregnancy. What happens then. So that would go under investigation. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of clarity after the passage of this particular law about what will happen to women. We can only presume seeing as how Georgia does have criminal liability for purposefully killing another person for murder for things like that, that a person could be held criminally liable. And that means they can be investigated the sort of investigations that we've seen across the nation. I have to do with number one checking someone's social media that seems on the table. I know for certain we've seen that with groups and organizations like meta where they provided that information to law enforcement when asked. So unfortunately for women in Georgia who are now learning for the first time that they could be pregnant, they not only have to be concerned about proving the viability of their pregnancy if they are looking for a tax break. But also if they do have a miscarriage and involuntary miscarriage, they could be criminally liable. We just don't know what's going to happen. But we do know that your facebook profile, your social media, anything about your medical history is now something that is discoverable by your your local law enforcement agency. So is this another way to possibly roll back abortion access in the state of Georgia? Oh, it certainly is one of the things that I heard you raise is this idea of personhood. One thing that's different in Georgia's anti abortion law as compared to other states is that it deliberately called the fetus or the embryo a person and the reason why it's called that embryo, that collection of cells a person is because it wants to bestow additional rights to the to the person or or rather to the embryo that's held within the woman's body. Now, what that means is not only claiming somebody's on your tax returns, claiming that embryo on your tax return, it also means child support. It also means alimony. It also could mean potentially holding back critical prescription medication because it could lead to a miscarriage or anything else that could potentially force a woman's body to abort a fetus. And those instances, people who need critical medical care now will no longer have access to that care. People now who are not to play pay child support, who may not know that they may have been a party to somebody else's pregnancy now have to be on heightened alert. We don't know what the long term effects are going to be in the state of Georgia, but we know that everybody's privacy is now vulnerable. We know that law enforcement agencies are going to have more access to people's private information and we know that now more and more people are going to be liable for potential criminal sanctions. How does this fit into the overall abortion debate in our country, essentially, it is the right of a collection of cells within a woman's body over the right of the woman, that is what we are facing. We used to have a clear and complete privacy. Right bodily autonomy right in in the road decision. That's what we understand that a woman's right to choose is paramount to her humanity is paramount to her right to privacy and family planning. We do not want the government coming into our bedrooms and telling us how we ought to act or telling us what we can do with our bodies. But unfortunately, what's happening in Georgia with the personhood language of hB 4 81 we're seeing developing in other states where now the right to bodily autonomy is no longer right? Number one, now, it's about the collection of cells within the woman's body and how the state can use that to their advantage and ice say that very plainly because we also understand that now that embryo at about six weeks when cardiac activity is first discovered, can now be claimed as part of your population count in the state of Georgia. So that means other states that are invested in having this personhood process included in their laws now have a clearer pathway forward? Because they can follow Georgia's lead. This is especially disturbing because now the question becomes, does the woman's right to choose or woman's right to exist matter at all? Or is it just the state's right to determine what a woman ought to do with her womb clean it. Like you mentioned at the beginning of this interview. there's so much confusion around this. Thank you for bringing some context. We hope you come back. You really did a great job simplifying this for us to claim a condo chief legal officer at the new Georgia project. Thank you again.