wow...just wow...
Born with a midwife’s help? Government says, ‘Sorry, no passport’.
So if you weren't born in a fancy hospital with a fancy doctor dude signing your birth certificate and everything, you may suddenly find out, despite having been born in the U.S. and living here all your 45+ years, you are ineligible for a passport...
...ineligible to vote, with new votor ID provisions
...unable to renew your drivers' licence, with new ID provisions
That's just completely outrageous. And notice how many different groups it's striking at --
...women, because obviously midwives can't be trusted to tell the truth about a child's birth
...mothers, because obviously we can't make our own decisions about who delivers our children
...minorities, because 30 to 40 years ago, particularly in the southern parts of the country, most of their mothers had midwives rather than doctors. In fact in many places, hospitals were "white only" -- not even a choice undertaken by the minorities.
These issues are becoming much more acute in the last several years because of Homeland Security's increasing insistence on a much higher array of documentation for passports, and Republican attempts to tighten and restrict the process by which people register to vote.
There may be many sound reasons for increased ID checks. But not to account for alternative documentation, especially for populations who were forced to take those alternatives back in the day is absolutely unconscionable.
So if you weren't born in a fancy hospital with a fancy doctor dude signing your birth certificate and everything, you may suddenly find out, despite having been born in the U.S. and living here all your 45+ years, you are ineligible for a passport...
...ineligible to vote, with new votor ID provisions
...unable to renew your drivers' licence, with new ID provisions
That's just completely outrageous. And notice how many different groups it's striking at --
...women, because obviously midwives can't be trusted to tell the truth about a child's birth
...mothers, because obviously we can't make our own decisions about who delivers our children
...minorities, because 30 to 40 years ago, particularly in the southern parts of the country, most of their mothers had midwives rather than doctors. In fact in many places, hospitals were "white only" -- not even a choice undertaken by the minorities.
These issues are becoming much more acute in the last several years because of Homeland Security's increasing insistence on a much higher array of documentation for passports, and Republican attempts to tighten and restrict the process by which people register to vote.
There may be many sound reasons for increased ID checks. But not to account for alternative documentation, especially for populations who were forced to take those alternatives back in the day is absolutely unconscionable.