Micro insemination, as seen on a tv monitor on Oct....

Micro insemination, as seen on a tv monitor on Oct. 28, 1993. A micro-thin pipette with male sperm is inserted under a covering membrane on the female egg. Once iside the membrane the sperm fertilizes the egg. Credit: Newsday / David Pokress

Should children conceived using frozen sperm from a deceased father be entitled to collect Social Security survivor benefits? The U.S. Supreme Court said no — if they’re born in Florida. But the answer could be different for children born in another state.

 That’s a nonsensical fact of artificially inseminated life that Congress needs to change.
Karen and Robert Capato got married in 1999. Robert died of cancer less than three years later. With the help of in vitro fertilization, Karen gave birth to twins 18 months after her husband’s death.  She applied for the benefits and was denied by the Social Security Administration.

Obviously Congress couldn’t have envisioned the technology that made the twins' birth possible when it enacted the relevant provision of the law in 1939. But  the court interpreted it to mean that if a biological child would be entitled to an inheritance from dad, under the laws of the relevant state, then the child is entitled to Social Security survivor  benefits.

The logic is the benefits were intended for those who depended on a deceased parent for support during his or her lifetime. That makes sense. What doesn’t is that whether you collect depends on where  you happen to live. This is one nation. There should be one rule.

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