Petition to Establish Paternal Financial Responsibility Beginning at Conception

To the Honorable Members of the Arkansas State Senate and House of Representatives:
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED SUPPORTERS, respectfully petition the Arkansas General Assembly to draft, sponsor, and enact comprehensive legislation establishing paternal financial responsibility beginning at the time of medically confirmed conception, subject to the legal establishment of paternity and appropriate due-process protections.

WHEREAS, Amendment 68 of the Arkansas Constitution declares it to be the official public policy of the State of Arkansas to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth; and

WHEREAS, a significant gap remains in Arkansas civil and family law, leaving expectant mothers responsible for substantial financial costs associated with pregnancy and prenatal care without a corresponding legal mechanism requiring the biological father to share those expenses; and

WHEREAS, if Arkansas public policy recognizes the protection of unborn life beginning at conception, the financial responsibilities associated with supporting the pregnancy and future child should likewise be addressed beginning at conception, subject to the establishment of legal paternity and appropriate due-process protections;

THEREFORE, WE PETITION THE ARKANSAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO AMEND TITLE 9 AND RELATED CIVIL CODES TO ESTABLISH THE FOLLOWING:

1. Retroactive Child Support Beginning at Conception

Authorize courts, upon a legal determination of paternity, to calculate child support obligations retroactively to the date of medically confirmed conception.

2. Due Process and Deferred Enforcement

Provide that paternal financial obligations may accrue beginning at conception; however, no collection remedies may be enforced against an alleged father until he has received legal notice, been given an opportunity to contest paternity through genetic testing, and a final judicial determination of paternity has been entered.

3. Prenatal Healthcare Cost-Sharing

Require a legally established biological father to reimburse the mother for qualifying out-of-pocket prenatal healthcare expenses, including eligible medical expenses, health insurance premiums attributable to pregnancy, and childbirth-related expenses incurred from conception through delivery.

4. Life Insurance to Secure Child Support

Authorize a court, upon the establishment of paternity and where appropriate, to require the biological father to obtain and maintain a life insurance policy sufficient to secure future child-support obligations, with the child or an appropriate trustee designated as beneficiary in accordance with applicable law.

5. Estate and Inheritance Protection

Provide that when a biological father dies while the mother is pregnant with his child, the unborn child shall have an inheritance interest in the father's estate to the extent permitted by law. Any property or financial interest belonging to the child shall be held and administered for the child's benefit in accordance with applicable law.

6. Pre-Birth Support Arrearages

Establish that qualifying support obligations and healthcare expenses accrued during pregnancy may constitute enforceable support arrearages following the legal establishment of paternity and shall be subject to applicable state collection mechanisms.

7. State-Facilitated Prenatal Paternity Testing

Establish a framework allowing an expectant mother to request a medically appropriate, non-invasive prenatal paternity (NIPP) test during pregnancy. Where paternity is subsequently established, the cost of testing may be assessed against the biological father as a court-ordered expense.

8. Continuing Financial Responsibility

Provide that financial obligations established under this legislation may not be eliminated solely through an agreement, voluntary termination of parental rights, or other mechanism intended to relieve a par