Utah: Fathers to split pregnancy cost with expecting mothers
A pregnant woman
In a bid to assure more financial support for mothers, the government of Utah has now made it compulsory for the fathers to pay half the cost of a mother’s medical care, related to the pregnancy and delivery of the baby.
As per Utah's Shared Medical Costs, biological fathers will now have to pay half of the mother’s insurance premiums during the time of her pregnancy. This will also include all other medical fees, and the cost incurred during the delivery of the baby.
A study in the Health Affairs journalobserved medical costs of expecting mothers from 2008 to 2015 and revealed that women with health insurance bear cost of nearly $4,500 out of their own pocket during the period of pregnancy.
The figure doubles up for the women who cannot afford to have health insurance and the cost is closer to $10,000.
As of now, fathers are able to delay paying any amount till paternity is proven in the eye of the law. In addition to this, fathers are allowed to not divide the cost if the mother is not seeking assistance.
One exception is also that fathers will not have to divide the cost of an abortion if the decision is taken without mutual consent — cases of rape and the mother’s life in danger remain to be an exception.