[justiceseeker93]

What possible reason would there be for saying that the child of a mother who was a native-born citizen, with no ties to any other country, would not be a citizen simply because the mother was young[?]

Not simply because the mother was young, but because the father was an alien and the child was born abroad. I suppose that the Congress that passed this law thought a very young American mother who went abroad with an alien father to have a child was not suffieciently connected to the US to have her child be an American by birth. However, that same law made provision for such a child to be naturalized conveniently. Apparently, Obama's mother didn't take advantage of that opportunity (not that it would have made BO constitutionally eligible to be president).

[Mariebl]

Not simply because the mother was young, but because the father was an alien and the child was born abroad. I suppose that the Congress that passed this law thought a very young American mother who went abroad with an alien father to have a child was not suffieciently connected to the US to have her child be an American by birth. However, that same law made provision for such a child to be naturalized conveniently. Apparently, Obama's mother didn't take advantage of that opportunity (not that it would have made BO constitutionally eligible to be president).

So, let's say that some of your ancestors sailed over on the Mayflower, some nearly died in Jamestown, some founded New Amsterdam, and a few of them were here all along. You've never resided outside this country. (Vacations don't change your residence.) You marry someone who's not a citizen. You take a day-trip into Canada when you're 7 months pregnant, go into labor, and your baby is delivered in Canada. The status of your baby should be different, depending on whether you're 18 years old, or 40 years old?