U.S. top court decides in vitro fertilization benefits By James Vicini Posted 2012/05/21 at 10:55 am EDT WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012 (Reuters) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that children conceivedthrough in vitro fertilization after the death of a parent were notautomatically entitled to survivor benefits under the SocialSecurity law. The justices unanimously sided with the Obama administration andoverturned a U.S. appeals court's ruling for a New Jersey woman whois seeking benefits for her twins conceived by artificialinsemination after her husband's death. The high court case pitted new reproductive technologies againstlongstanding requirements to qualify for child survivor benefitsunder the Social Security Act that date back to 1939. Government lawyers said the Social Security Administration hasreceived more than 100 claims for survivor benefits by posthumouslyconceived children, with claims increasing significantly in recentyears. The ruling was a defeat for Karen Capato, who sued in federal courtin New Jersey after her request for Social Security benefits forher twins had been denied. In 1999, her husband, Robert Capato deposited sperm at a fertilityclinic after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He died inMarch 2002, and his wife then underwent in vitro fertilization. Shegave birth to twins in September 2003. The Social Security Administration says eligibility for benefitsdepends partly on whether the applicable state law would allow aposthumously conceived child to inherit property in the absence ofa will. The Supreme Court agreed. In Capato's case, the state law at issue bars children conceivedposthumously from inheritance unless named in a will. Capato's onlybeneficiaries named in his will were his wife, their son and twochildren from a previous marriage. Capato's attorneys argued that a posthumously conceived child wascovered by the law's definition of a child for the purpose ofreceiving Social Security survivor benefits. But the Supreme Court disagreed in an opinion written by JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg. She said the Social Security Administration's interpretation wasmore in line with the law's text and its design to benefitprimarily those the deceased wage earner actually supported in hisor her lifetime. Even if the government's longstanding interpretation of the law wasnot the only reasonable one, it was a permissible and entitled todeference, she said. Under the appeals court's ruling that was overturned, "biologicalchildren of married parents can gain benefits even if their fatherdied many years before their birth," she said in summarizing theopinion from the bench. The Supreme Court case is Astrue v. Capato, No. 11-159. (Reporting By James Vicini; Editing by Philip Barbara). I am an expert from xashtly.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Plastic Seal Tags Manufacturer , Custom Printed Gift Bags Manufacturer, Reusable Grocery Shopping Bags,and more.
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