Fetal Heartbeat Bills, Citizenship, and Taxes

Here are a few thoughts and three points about so-called “fetal heartbeat” bills enacted by AL & a handful of other states:

1.) Our U.S. Constitution does NOT support the notion that a fetus is a person because – and as the Catholic Church has long taught – life begins at birth, NOT conception. AND, the Scripture clearly states that the Almighty breathed the “breath of life” at which point “the man became a living being” into Adam. So we see clearly from that religious text in Judaic scripture (the Genesis account) that breathing is equated with life, not conception.

For if life began at conception, then “personhood” and citizenship is imbued at that moment (of conception).

An example of the current (2000’s) CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad).

What that effectively means, is that a fetus conceived overseas (to an immigrant couple, for example, who later became naturalized American citizens before giving birth), the conceived fetus would be a citizen of wherever it was conceived… EVEN IF the child was delivered/born in the U.S.A. Clearly, that is contrary to established U.S. law, and other legal precedent which states that citizenship is granted to a child when it is born, and that the child’s citizenship is of the nation in which the child is born – NOT in which it was conceived.
2.) Also, the U.S. Department of State has a form which is required to be completed for children born overseas to American citizens if the child is to have American citizenship. It’s called a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, aka Form FS-240), and MUST be completed by the parents to give American citizenship to the child. If it is NOT completed within a certain time frame, the child will NOT be an American citizen, and by default, will be a citizen of the nation where it was born. The form is not called a report of pregnancy or conception abroad. The word “conception” is derived from the Latin concipere meaning “to take in and hold,” meaning also something which is beginning in the mind.

An example of the former (1900’s) CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad).

As an example, consider Ted Cruz, who was born in Alberta, Canada to a Cuban father and American mother. There is NO EVIDENCE that his parents completed the CRBA, and his birth certificate is Canadian. He is therefore, by law, a Canadian citizen -NOT- an American. Note that Ted is also in violation of U.S. law concerning his U.S. Senate status, which the Constitution states must be held ONLY by U.S. citizens. “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”

Former CRBA form.

Official Canadian governmental recognition of Ted Cruz’s renunciation of Canadian citizenship

As further proof of that fact – that Ted is (or once was) a Canadian – note that Ted OFFICIALLY renounced his Canadian citizenship 14 May 2014 on an official Canadian form – the Certificate of Renunciation of Canadian Citizenship.

By having renounced his Canadian citizenship, and not possessing American citizenship, in effect, Ted Cruz is now, quite literally, a prime example of “The Man Without A Country.” See also: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1863/12/the-man-without-a-country/308751/

Modern CRBA form.

Note also that Ted’s father (Rafael Bienvenido Cruz) was granted political asylum in the U.S.A., then moved to Canada, where he became a Canadian citizen, and then, did NOT become an American citizen until 2005, LONG AFTER he had moved to the U.S.A. when Ted was a 4-year old child in 1974.

3.) Then finally, consider also that the Internal Revenue Service also recognizes children which are BORN – NOT conceived – when granting deduction status. Here’s their official response to a question about claiming a deduction for a child born who lived only 40 minutes after being born: https://www.irs.gov/faqs/earned-income-tax-credit/qualifying-child-rules/qualifying-child-rules-1

Age begins at birth, not conception. Consider plainly, that one’s birth date is the date of their birth, not the date of their conception. The science of conception and pregnancy is a relatively new thing, per se, and didn’t occur until after the invention of the microscope circa 1670 around which time cells were first given their name by Robert Hooke. Before that time, there was no clear understanding of biology, and a child’s birth (if it survived) along with it’s first breath were considered the point in time at which life began.

It is difficult to determine a date of conception. Even the Estimated Due Date is calculated from the date of the first missed menstruation – which is called Naegele’s Rule – and is determined by going back 3 months, and 7 days from the Last Menstrual Period (adding a year, of course). Alternately, add 9 months and 7 days from the LMP. Naegele’s Rule works on a 28-day cycle, which is the length of time for the female menstrual cycle. Interestingly, 28 days is also the duration of the lunar cycle.

Not every pregnancy results in a live birth. At least 20% of all pregnancies are naturally terminated (spontaneous abortion, aka “miscarriage”), which occurs before 20 weeks gestation, and do not result in live births.

Further, children can be born dead – which is to say that they died in utero (in the uterus).