# Taxes: If I can't abort my fetus because it's a person, should I get to claim it as a dependent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 22, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413 "2011-04-22T23:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/41 "2011-04-24T09:51:54Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Ah, nothing like Junior HS caliber sarcasm elevate the discourse. > > How about a doctor’s report (post card sized hand written letterhead document > will do fine) if birth has not yet occurred, and a birth certificate (Hawaiian short > form Certification of Live Birth or the equivalent will do fine) if birth has occurred? > > No time limit. > > Yes, to start off with. > > It might turn out that a lot of people try to game the sytem by falsely claiming > serial pregnancies followed by serial miscarriages. Therefore a limit might have > to be placed on the number of deductible pregnancies allowed. You can’t game the system. You put your child’s SSN and DOB on your taxes. So for any woman filling her taxes, the child would have had to be born by midnight Dec 31st. So the pregnancy credit would be _carried over_ and a first time parent should get a child + pregnancy extra credit. (Or deduction. Depends on how you want to do this.) That way, no one cheats the system! (: If you conceive on January 10th and have a child on September 1, then you should get a child + pregnancy credit for the following tax year. Right now, if you want to claim a dependent, your child has to be born before Jan 1. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/42 "2011-04-24T12:29:01Z")
> [@villa](#): > > There’s no sarcasm involved whatsoever. I simply don’t think you can make such an idea work. Claiming to be “intrigued by” opinion you later voice contempt for is sarcasm. It is also one of the most trite expressions of sarcasm, hence its favor with those whose writing skills were arrested sometime around age 12. > [@villa](#): > > Don’t a majority of conceptions (remembering back to high school biology) never actually result in an implanted fertilized egg? Are you going to have a doctor’s report on every heavy period? Undetected pregnancy would obviously not be deductible. Heavy menstrual flow is obviously not sufficient to establish that pregnancy has ever taken place. Also, the purpose of dependency deduction is help defray expense, not to serve as a reward system. Conditions such as you refer to entail little or no expense. No time limit. > [@villa](#): > > So as long as there is conception, you get the deduction for the year… Yes, for the second time. Think you got it now? > [@villa](#): > > It isn’t about gaming the system. It’s about the stupidity of using conception as a definition of life… It does not matter where life begins, and the only stupidity voiced here is by you for failing to grasp that a potential problem could have a simple solution. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/43 "2011-04-24T12:35:29Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > If the only point you want to make is “pro-lifers are hypocrites” or something like that, that’s not really a discussion I think worth having. It’s just a way to slam pro-lifers and not really a debate. If you want to have a discussion on the feasibility of allowing special tax deductions to pregnant women, though, that’s another story. I’m not saying they are hypocrites. It’s entirely possible that they have never thought about the implications of taking the position that a fetus is a person ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/44 "2011-04-24T12:47:43Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > You can’t game the system. You put your child’s SSN and DOB on your taxes. So for any woman filling her taxes, the child would have had to be born by midnight Dec 31st. > > So the pregnancy credit would be _carried over_ and a first time parent should get a child + pregnancy extra credit. (Or deduction. Depends on how you want to do this.) That way, no one cheats the system! (: > > If you conceive on January 10th and have a child on September 1, then you should get a child + pregnancy credit for the following tax year. > > Right now, if you want to claim a dependent, your child has to be born before Jan 1. You seem to be limiting the number of pregnancy deductions to one per year, in which case I agree there is little potential for abuse. I only thought it would be more logically consistent and not extravagantly generous to allow for more than one per year to provide for such rare cases as having two medically established mid-term miscarriages in one calendar year. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/45 "2011-04-24T13:01:22Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > You seem to be limiting the number of pregnancy deductions to one per year, > in which case I agree there is little potential for abuse. > > I only thought it would be more logically consistent and not extravagantly generous > to allow for more than one per year to provide for such rare cases as having two > medically established mid-term miscarriages in one calendar year. No, because a child gets that special ‘status’ after the second trimester. If a woman carries a child for 10 months, well, makes sense it ends up being a one time extra bonus the first year they file the child as a dependent. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/46 "2011-04-24T13:21:14Z")
Clearly, if there was such a deduction, it should go to the father. A deduction for the wrath the poor guy suffered for walking too loud, or ever so slightly rocking the bed when readjusting his sleeping position, or not anticipating the need for banana cream pie at 9 PM. Those miners who were trapped for 6 months got a deduction for what they suffered and that was only 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/47 "2011-04-24T13:30:38Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > No, because a child gets that special ‘status’ after the second trimester. If a woman carries a child for 10 months, well, makes sense it ends up being a one time extra bonus the first year they file the child as a dependent. Am not sure where our disagreement might lie, or if we really disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/48 "2011-04-24T13:46:21Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Am not sure where our disagreement might lie, or if we really disagree. just that I don’t think miscarriages count. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/49 "2011-04-24T16:30:06Z")
There is logic in the OP. But it reminds me of a PLayboy Cartoon years ago. A IRS agent was going over a tax form. He explained to the tax payer what was rejected. " You are taking deductions like you are a somebody, whereas you are actually a nobody." ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/50 "2011-04-24T19:41:17Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > [sarcasm] I believe life begins at the point of sexual arousal![/sarcasm] Masturbation is Murder! ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/51 "2011-04-24T20:58:13Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Siamese twins get multiple deductions as far as I know but it would be OK if you just lump them together I see what you did there ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413/52 "2011-04-25T04:56:49Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > just that I don’t think miscarriages count. I think they should if pregnancy is medically established beforehand, with the understanding that the number per year may be limited if it becomes apparent that the system is being abused. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxes-if-i-cant-abort-my-fetus-because-its-a-person-should-i-get-to-claim-it-as-a-dependent/579413.md?page=2)