Dornan Seeks Tax Break on Adoptions : Families: He argues that incentives exist for those who have abortions or high medical costs but not for people wanting a child. He backs a $5,000 credit.

WASHINGTON —  Congress should pass a tax credit for couples who adopt children just as it provides an economic break for some women who have abortions, Orange County Rep. Robert K. Dornan said Wednesday.

Testifying at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Dornan (R-Garden Grove) said the federal tax code gives financial incentives to have abortions but little relief for adoptions.

“Here we (are) with an object to encourage abortion financially but not to encourage adoption,” said Dornan, an ardent abortion opponent. “It’s absolutely absurd.”

Taxpayers now can deduct medical expenses if the costs total more than 10% of their taxable income. Medical costs beyond that threshold, including those for abortions, are fully deductible.

Representatives of abortion rights groups said they could not estimate how many women take advantage of the tax break.

Dornan spoke in favor of a proposal in the GOP’s “contract with America” that would give couples a $5,000 tax credit to cover adoption expenses, which sometimes reach as high as $20,000.

The congressman has authored a similar measure in past sessions to put in place a $1,500 tax deduction for adoption-related expenses.

About 1.5 million couples in the United States want to adopt, Dornan said, a figure about equal to the number of abortions that occur annually.

“If every pregnant mother carried her child to term, there’s a loving, waiting couple there to nurture that child,” he said.

The adoption provision is part of a broader measure called the Family Reinforcement Act. The legislation also includes a tax credit for people who care for elderly family members at home and stricter enforcement of child support payments.

The adoption tax credit is geared to help low- and middle-income parents.

Couples earning up to $60,000 a year would be eligible for the full $5,000 credit to pay for attorney’s fees, court costs, adoption fees and other related expenses. It would be phased out for parents earning between $60,000 and $100,000. Those who earn more than that would not be eligible.

The proposal was endorsed Wednesday by organizations that help parents jump the hurdles along the way to adoption.

“Without this financial help, many who could handle the day-to-day expenses of rearing a child who needs adoption can’t handle the full fee for adopting,” said William L. Pierce, president of the National Council for Adoption. “Five thousand dollars would make all the difference in the world to them.”

The idea also has broad bipartisan support among lawmakers, committee Democrats said. But congressional aides said the measure’s cost could slow its progress. The Republican staff of the Ways and Means Committee has estimated that tax incentives could amount to $900 million over five years.

And that is just a sliver of the amount that Republicans must offset to fund their entire “contract with America.”

The measure will face a vote sometime before mid-April.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), a committee member, questioned whether the proposal was the most cost-effective way to promote adoption. He suggested that the tax credit go to parents who adopt disabled children or others who cost more to raise.

“To me that makes sense,” he said. “The proposal here is just to fire up into the air a couple billion dollars and hope it comes down in the right place.”