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South Africa's one million invisible children without birth certificates

(www.france24.com)
116 points mooreds | 1 comments | 14 Oct 25 01:13 UTC | HN request time: 0.221s | source
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bombcar ◴[21 Oct 25 13:52 UTC] No.45655813[source]▶
For reference, the US has procedures for this: https://www.usa.gov/citizenship-no-birth-certificate because people without birth certificates are still somewhat common, even children.

Vermont didn't require it until 1955!

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1. atmavatar ◴[21 Oct 25 17:46 UTC] No.45658997[source]▶
Before segregation ended, it was relatively common for hospitals to turn away pregnant black women, ultimately forcing them to use midwives instead. Those born via midwives often were not issued birth certificates, so many black Americans have none.

Consequently, that's also why Republicans push so hard for voter ID laws.