PURPOSE:
There has been significant rise in public debates about the value of birthright citizenship and narratives describing pregnant migrants as threatening to societies. In high resource countries, these debates are driven by intersecting anxieties about race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, and culture. Recent US attempts to unilaterally end birthright citizenship for the children of certain migrants, despite the Constitution’s citizenship guarantees for all native-born people, is a key example of this anti-pregnant migrant backlash and highlights the heightened precarity experienced by many pregnant migrants.

DISCUSSION:
The perinatal period tells us much about the relationship between migrants, their bodies, and the state. Despite their interconnected health care needs, many countries differentiate between the rights and needs of the pregnant person versus the fetus. In societies with birthright citizenship, the future citizenship status of their child shapes pregnant migrants’ interactions with health systems. This paper unpacks these complex dynamics through a comparative sociolegal discussion of how changing laws and policies shape pregnant immigrants’ access to perinatal care.

EVIDENCE WHERE RELEVANT:
I conducted a qualitative case study of laws, judicial decisions, and policy guidance documents which govern pregnant migrants’ access to state-funded perinatal healthcare in Canada and the US. My thematic content analysis demonstrates that pregnant migrants experience heightened precarity because of their intersecting immigration and pregnancy statuses. Access to reproductive care varies by both gestational age and legal status. Birthright citizenship can create tensions between the pregnant migrant’s rights as an individual and their status as the carrier of a future citizen. The fetus’ rights as a future citizen may take precedence over the legal status of the pregnant migrant, perpetuating problematic maternal-fetal conflict narratives.

KEY MESSAGE:
Pregnant migrants experience heightened precarity due to their intersecting pregnancy and immigration statuses. When accessible, the midwifery model of care may be particularly suited for caring for legally marginalized pregnant migrants. Poster session 4 (Group B)