support payments

It’s astounding the steps and resources the government must expend to force noncustodial parents — almost always fathers – to do right by their children. I saw that up close when I rode along with sheriff’s deputies and police officers hunting down scofflaws.

The debtors were frequently tens of thousands of dollars behind in payments.

Stakeouts, admonishments by deputies, and handcuffs were common that day in 2011. Jail was a possibility, but judges were often loath to leave dads behind bars if it prevented them from paying up. That would harm their offspring even more.

I was reminded about that reporting as Virginia begins sorting out what a post-Roe v. Wade society will become. Last month’s anti-abortion, anti-privacy, anti-women ruling by the US Supreme Court overturned a half-century-old constitutional right.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, wants to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Democrats and abortion rights supporters pledged to fight back. The guv told conservative activists last week he wants to go even further if Republicans hold onto the House of Delegates and flip the state Senate in the 2023 elections.

Republicans now hold a slight majority in the House, 52-48. Democrats have an even narrower edge in the Senate, 21-19; the Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, would break tie votes in that chamber.

Fewer abortions will mean more children. Those infants will face a challenging future if both parents aren’t committed to their well-being and growth.

Youngkin, while trumpeting the chance to “happy and gleefully” sign any bill “in order to protect life,” must prove he also cares about children long out of the womb — when the stresses and costs of raising them become all too real for parents.

This issue will become even more critical if more women are forced to bring their