Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Brices Crossroads
So one question on your post 434; if you think an unborn child is a person, does that affect your interpretation of whether the unborn child is an American, depending on the circumstances of conception?
594 posted on 11/06/2007 3:57:18 AM PST by Bernard ("Rare, Safe and Legal" - what an ideal Immigration Policy should look like.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 434 | View Replies ]


To: Bernard

IN the Fourteenth Amendment, citizenship and personhood are two distinct concepts. In my view, personhood for purposes is determined not only by the intent of the drafters at the time the amendment is written (which extended both personhood and citzenship to former slaves, but also by scientific advances (e.g.- DNA, sonograms, etc) that objectively prove that life begins at conception. My construction of the 14th Amendment is not cabined by what the framers thought, but looks first to the text and then to objectively verifiable facts. I thus part company with Scalia and Bork and believe that 14the Amendment grants the rights to due process and equal protection to unborn children as it does to any other persons.

Citizenship, on the other hand, is specifically limited to those born or naturalized in the United States. THe circumstances of the conception have nothing to do with the citizenship. This creates a problem with”anchor babies” who are born to illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. for the specific purpose of giving birth. Various solutions have been proposed to this, including denial of citizenship to children born under such circumstances. Hope this answers your question.


596 posted on 11/06/2007 5:57:53 AM PST by Brices Crossroads
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 594 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson