The birthright citizenship case in front of the US Supreme Court is about more than just citizenship. It’s also about an issue that was little discussed in court arguments: babies’ immediate access to safety net programs and medical tests that need to be done within the first couple days of life.
Healthcare Implications
For newborns, there’s typically a test for jaundice, pulse oximetry for heart defects and a heel prick that checks for rare but serious conditions that all can result in permanent brain damage if not addressed right away. Even during the high court arguments in April, advocates for children worried that these impacts were being overlooked.
“Kids are sort of the afterthought with all of this. They kept sitting around talking about allegiance and all this, but the people this affects are babies. The harm is to babies,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus on Children, a bipartisan children’s public policy organization.
Since 1868, the 14th Amendment has granted virtually all people born in the United States automatic citizenship. On the first day of his second term in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to limit that birthright citizenship. The lower courts paused the order, and the case will soon be decided by the US Supreme Court.
If the high court strikes down birthright citizenship, experts say, it has the potential to hurt the health of all babies born in the United States, not just the hundreds of thousands born to illegal immigrants. It could also create what Lesley and others described as “serious chaos” in the health system.
Current System
Currently, when a baby is born in the US, they are automatically a citizen, and that gives them immediate access to a range of support and services. Parents don’t have to gather any proof of citizenship documents or mail any records to get a child a Social Security number, which is required for a baby to officially be enrolled in food benefits, health insurance and other support services.
Without automatic birthright citizenship, a hospital would essentially have to verify every baby’s citizenship in order to get a Social Security number, and that could delay care for millions of children, Lesley said.
More than 21 million Americans lack ready access to documents that prove citizenship, according to the amicus brief that First Focus on Children filed with the Supreme Court in this case. And even if parents are ultimately able to prove citizenship, it may not be done immediately, and that could delay care.
“Any administrative burden that could destabilize that system or slow it down would really put children’s health at risk,” said Dr. Kim Avila, a pediatrician based in Texas who also serves as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Federal Government Affairs.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
