Tax credits approved for donors to Louisiana anti-abortion centers
Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a new tax credit for donors to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers into law last week – about a year after Louisiana put a near-total ban on abortion in place.
Donors to the organizations, which have been renamed maternal wellness centers in the state law, will be able to benefit from $30 million worth of income tax breaks that will be issued from 2025 through 2030.
A donor will be able to claim an income tax credit equal to 50% of their contribution to a center or 50% of their total state income tax liability in the year the contribution was made, whichever is lower.
The total amount of tax credits that can be given out will be generally limited to $5 million per year, except that credits from years where the $5 million maximum is not reached can be rolled forward and made available in subsequent years.
If the $5 million is maxed out early in a given year, then donors who weren’t able to receive a credit that year are put to the front of the line for getting the tax break in the following year. No one center is allowed to benefit from more than 20% of the tax credits made available, according to the law.
Anti-abortion groups pushed for the law sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton.
“It is critical for the pro-life movement to find every avenue to support Louisiana mothers, whether that be through private or public resources,” said Ben Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, one of the state’s large anti-abortion advocacy organizations.
“We believe this important law permitting Louisiana citizens to receive a tax credit when they donate to a maternal wellness center will strengthen resources for families,” he said.
Mizell, in hearings during the legislative session, said she thought the centers could help improve women’s health in Louisiana.
The new law will require all of the centers to provide information on where parents can apply for Medicaid as well as government food assistance aimed for new mothers and infants. They must also have a list of pediatricians and obstetric doctors that accept Medicaid on hand.
But these organizations also have a host of critics who say the centers distribute false information about abortion and offer few prenatal services. A review by WWNO-FM earlier this month found that just five of the 33 crisis pregnancy centers operating in Louisiana had a nurse on staff.
All the centers that benefit from the tax credit will also likely be part of Christian organizations. The new law requires them to be affiliated with one of three national groups — Heartbeat International, Care Net or the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates — that espouse conservative Christian beliefs on their websites.
At least two of those three networks — Heartbeat International and Care Net — prohibit the distribution of birth control, according to their websites. In an online video, Care Net CEO and President Robert Warren said his organization’s centers don’t provide contraception because it would violate the “Biblical principles” they follow.
Under the new law, the Louisiana Department of Health will have to post on its website a list of centers that qualify for the tax credit, though the agency will have no “regulatory authority” over the organizations.
In addition to the tax credit, Edwards and lawmakers dedicated at least $1 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding over the next year to alternatives to abortion programming, which typically goes to these centers.
The legislature also approved a bill that will create a new tax credit for families who adopt children under 3 years of age that is expected to become law. The adoption tax credit will be worth $5,000, though it does not apply to adoptions from out of foster care.
If the adopting family’s tax liability to Louisiana less than $5,000, then the family will receive a tax refund making up the difference between the liability and $5,000. This can be applied to adoptions from Jan. 1, 2023 through 2028.
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