Anti-abortion protesters gather near the Washington Monument during the March for Life rally on Jan. 27 in Washington,D.C. | Tasos Katopodis/AFP/Getty Images 'Unborn children' qualify as college savers in GOP tax plan

The tax bill unveiled by House Republicans on Thursday would allow expectant parents to start putting away money for college and private school tuition, wading into the battle over when human life begins.

The legislation includes language that would open up tax-advantaged college savings accounts known as 529s to what the legislation calls "unborn children" as designated beneficiaries. And a bill summary specifically defines that as “a child in utero. A child in utero means a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.”


Groups on both sides of the abortion debate squared off over the provision, opening a new front in the push to grant legal rights to a fetus.

“A child in the womb is just as human as you or I yet, until now, the U.S. tax code has failed to acknowledge the unborn child — all while granting tax breaks for those seeking an abortion under the pretense of 'healthcare,'" said Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, an organization opposed to abortion rights.

“The proposed tax plan is a huge leap forward for an antiquated tax code, and we hope this is the first step in expanding the child tax credit to include unborn children as well," Mancini said.

Tom McClusky, president of the organization’s political arm, March for Life Action, said he was surprised to see the language included with college savings plans.

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“We’re thrilled about it, but it wasn’t something that we were specifically calling for,” he said. “We’ll fight to make sure it stays in there.”

But a spokeswoman for NARAL Pro-Choice America, which supports abortion rights, said, “The GOP's relentless obsession with advancing its dangerous anti-choice ideology knows no boundaries and no common sense. Inserting 'personhood' language into their tax bill is just the latest example of how they're trying to turn back the clock on this country."

“This is a back-door attempt to establish personhood from the moment of conception,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) . “What’s next, giving a Social Security number to a zygote?”

Specifically, the House Republican tax proposal would end Coverdell Education Savings Accounts — tax-free accounts that have allowed families to set aside up to $2,000 to cover education costs like private school tuition — and expand 529 college savings accounts to cover expenses of up to $10,000 per year at public, private and religious schools.