In a post-Dobbs shift of the GOP’s long-standing aversion to expanding welfare programs, Republicans across the country are introducing legislation to support new and expectant mothers. 

Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, unveiled a new plan to allow all pregnant women to receive welfare benefits that are currently available only to single parents under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which allows households to receive cash grants every month if they meet certain income requirements. 

Mr. Kemp first proposed the legislation during his State of the State address last week. A spokesman for the governor’s office told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the bill represents Mr. Kemp “living up to his commitment to improve maternal health in Georgia.”

Mr. Kemp began advocating for more pro-family policies last year — signaling a new shift in Republicans’ support for children in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. In 2021, he signed into law a bill that extended the amount of time low-income mothers could receive benefits under Medicaid, the federal program that provides healthcare for low-income people. 

Senator Rubio has also embraced an expanded family welfare regime. Last summer, in the weeks after the Dobbs decision was handed down and Republicans were on the defensive, Mr. Rubio introduced a bill that would allow women to use Social Security benefits as a comprehensive maternity leave program. It would raise the age they would be able to take out benefits when they retire depending on how long they take maternity leave. 

The legislation came under fire from the liberal Center on Budget Priorities. “The United States needs paid leave,” the director of Social Security policy, Kathleen Romig, wrote, “but it shouldn’t be financed by cutting Social Security benefits.”

Under Mr. Rubio’s bill, if a new mother chooses to take out Social Security funds immediately following her child’s birth, she would need to pay interest on the back end. 

In early January, another state leader joined the call for a conservative family leave policy. Governor Noem of South Dakota — a mother of three — detailed the beginnings of a paid leave program that would cover public sector employees and incentivize the private sector to grant similar benefits. 

The legislation would increase the length of paid maternity leave to 12 weeks from eight. Salaries would also be 100 percent covered for state employees, rather than the current 60 percent. The policies would not apply to the private sector. It would establish a $20 million grant pool from which companies could draw funds if they adopted paid maternity leave policies.

“Private sector companies will have the opportunity to be a part of the state’s risk pool, as well. This will make it much cheaper for companies to offer this benefit to their employees,” Mrs. Noem said in her address to the legislature. The bill would also pay families that have members working for the state $25,000 for adopting children from the foster care system.

The Republican Party’s new crop of “American First” legislators have notably adopted a pro-natalist set of policies, calling for greater support for families and children in the wake of slowing population growth in the United States. 

Senator Vance made a name for himself writing an autobiography about his poverty-stricken childhood in southern Ohio, and highlighted the importance of pro-family policies during his 2022 campaign. 

“It is a civilizational crisis, and if we’re not willing to spend resources to solve it, we’re not serious about the very real problems that we face,” he said during a campaign speech. “We should give resources to parents who are going to have kids, we should make it easier to raise American families.”

The shift among Republicans does not represent a return to the open-ended welfare payments that were cut back by President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich in the 1990s. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was established by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 after Mr. Clinton said the welfare state left people “trapped in a cycle of poverty.”

Now, Republicans are taking greater advantage of the program as the number of abortions decrease and the cost of raising children increases rapidly.