Or maybe this should be entitled "The Handmaiden's Tale: A Preamble"? It was really just a question of time before president Bush's fetal policy would cause something like this to happen:
Lawyers for a pregnant woman who was deported earlier this month have said that she should be allowed to return to the United States because her 32-week-gestation fetus -- which was conceived in the United States -- is guaranteed equal protection under criminal law as a result of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 and therefore could be eligible for U.S. citizenship rights, the reports. Maria Christina Rubio was deported on July 16 after immigration officials determined that her residency request had been denied two years ago and that she previously had been deported after illegally entering the United States. In addition, immigration officials last week denied Rubio's request for a humanitarian visa to return to the United States because of pregnancy complications that are putting the health of her fetus at risk; Rubio was hospitalized during her fifth month of pregnancy and has reported severe stomach pains throughout her pregnancy, according to Luis Carrillo, Rubio's husband's attorney. Carrillo said that because Rubio's fetus would be viable outside the womb, it should be treated as a U.S. citizen because the Unborn Victims of Violence Act grants a fetus equal protection under criminal law.
It's not likely that Rubio would win on this argument as the U.S. law currently defines citizenship by birth, but the seeds are sown, the seeds are sown, and one day we shall reap. I'm thinking of all the tourism the U.S. could have for conception vacations: happy couples could visit the Disney world and have a brand new American in the family by one single stroke!
Of course the role of the mother as a container would also become more pronounced. We'd need laws about the containers of human beings and how such should act. But those are probably already being written in the hidden offices of the FBU (The Federal Bureau of the Unborn; I stole this from a cartoon in Mother Jones).
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Thanks to ms CJ for the link.