> > Not one person here has come up with a single jurisdiction on
> > the planet which recognises an individual's citizenship prior to birth.
> > Find just one and you'll have a legal basis to extend rights to a fetus.
>
> Resident non-citizens do have some protected rights in the US.
> Even illegal aliens, for example, are entitled by Supreme Court
> decree to education and other entitlements of citizens. There
> are several jurisdictions that clearly and explicitly grant
> rights to fetuses as well: in New York, for example, causing
> the death of a 24-week-or-later fetus is prosecutable as murder;
> mothers have also been jailed for child abuse for using drugs
> while pregnant.
>
> That is not to say that I agree with these laws, but the laws
> are there: "rights" and "citizenship" are not equivalent.
Actually, they are paramount. If something has no rights, then such laws can
only have a seriousness that is equivalent to abusing or being cruel to an
animal. Charging someone with murder in this case is, IMHO, not likely to be a
successful prosecution, if the defendant foreswore a jury trial, and followed
through with any appeals necessary.
As stated previously be me, which you've ignored, non- citizens are legally
seen as 'honorary' citizens under agreements between governments that
establish diplomatic relations. Granting any rights to the unborn in terms of
citizenship is a sticky wicket that it seems nobody wants to try, as it will
create a nightmare of immigration and extradition situations. If the US, for
example, passed a law or amendment stating that life begins at conception,
then everybody on the planet will want to 'vacation' in the US in the hopes of
conceiving a child here, which will then be a US citizen, and will allow the
parents to stay here on the gov't dole.
You still haven't found any jurisdiction which will grant citizenship to a
fetus.
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?