Yeah, I think this is a pretty interesting question. I don’t have a super strong take here.
Parents can move to a nondemocratic country, and so already have the power to validly and irrevocably give up the democratic rights of their children. I wouldn’t currently prevent a pregnant parent from moving to China because that would give up the democratic rights of their future children, would you? It’s plausible I should, but I don’t currently feel sold on that.
(In most cases, a parent’s move to another country will not strip their citizen children of citizenship in the democratic country with the right of returning there. This is often true even for children who have not yet been born. And I think my objection would win if limited to already-born minor children only. But I’ll assume the parental action would indeed strip the child’s citizenship.)
I think you’re describing a life decision by the parent that has an incidental (albeit significant) effect on the child. Where a pregnant person lives is their decision because it is a question of their own personal autonomy. Whether to sell a child’s democratic rights is not a decision about the parent’s life and personal autonomy.
For example, one could believe that adults should be able to sell one of their kidneys for cash. (I’m not taking a position on that, but will assume it is correct for this paragraph). That doesn’t come close to implying that a parent could validly sell one of the their child’s kidneys for cash, even if the cash were securely locked up in a way that the child was guaranteed the full benefit of the payment.
(In most cases, a parent’s move to another country will not strip their citizen children of citizenship in the democratic country with the right of returning there. This is often true even for children who have not yet been born. And I think my objection would win if limited to already-born minor children only. But I’ll assume the parental action would indeed strip the child’s citizenship.)
Is this true? If a pregnant parent denounces their citizenship, I was assuming this would invalidate the citizenship of their unborn child. I should have clarified that moving alone isn’t enough, but like, parents can renounce their citizenship, and this affects the citizenship status of their future children, which seems like the same deal.
In the U.S.: you can renounce citizenship (which must be done abroad), and then have your child abroad. This should prevent the child from obtaining U.S. nationality through you, although they could still obtain it through the other parent (if any). However, I think renunication by people with prior U.S. residence is fairly uncommon—unless the renouncing person had another nationality, they would become stateless, which is not something you want to be!
Parents cannot, however, renounce the U.S. citizenship of their (born) minor children.
Yeah, I think this is a pretty interesting question. I don’t have a super strong take here.
Parents can move to a nondemocratic country, and so already have the power to validly and irrevocably give up the democratic rights of their children. I wouldn’t currently prevent a pregnant parent from moving to China because that would give up the democratic rights of their future children, would you? It’s plausible I should, but I don’t currently feel sold on that.
(In most cases, a parent’s move to another country will not strip their citizen children of citizenship in the democratic country with the right of returning there. This is often true even for children who have not yet been born. And I think my objection would win if limited to already-born minor children only. But I’ll assume the parental action would indeed strip the child’s citizenship.)
I think you’re describing a life decision by the parent that has an incidental (albeit significant) effect on the child. Where a pregnant person lives is their decision because it is a question of their own personal autonomy. Whether to sell a child’s democratic rights is not a decision about the parent’s life and personal autonomy.
For example, one could believe that adults should be able to sell one of their kidneys for cash. (I’m not taking a position on that, but will assume it is correct for this paragraph). That doesn’t come close to implying that a parent could validly sell one of the their child’s kidneys for cash, even if the cash were securely locked up in a way that the child was guaranteed the full benefit of the payment.
Is this true? If a pregnant parent denounces their citizenship, I was assuming this would invalidate the citizenship of their unborn child. I should have clarified that moving alone isn’t enough, but like, parents can renounce their citizenship, and this affects the citizenship status of their future children, which seems like the same deal.
In the U.S.: you can renounce citizenship (which must be done abroad), and then have your child abroad. This should prevent the child from obtaining U.S. nationality through you, although they could still obtain it through the other parent (if any). However, I think renunication by people with prior U.S. residence is fairly uncommon—unless the renouncing person had another nationality, they would become stateless, which is not something you want to be!
Parents cannot, however, renounce the U.S. citizenship of their (born) minor children.