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A law passed by the Virginia House of Delegates this week that would grant the same rights to a fertilized egg as to a person is provoking both silly and serious concerns over its unintended consequences.

On the more serious side, pro-choice group NARAL warned that changing the definition of the word “person” throughout Virginia’s laws could have any number of consequences, some that are all but impossible to predict:

Unfortunately, not only would this bill lay the foundation to ban abortion and contraception, it could also wreak havoc on other areas of the law. The word “person” appears over 25,000 times in the laws of Virginia. No one knows the exact consequences of changing such an ordinary word, but the proponents of H.B. 1 refused to discuss or address these concerns in committee or on the floor of the House. Granting fertilized eggs all of the rights, privileges, and immunities the people of the Commonwealth currently hold could impact inheritance laws, election laws, tax laws, and even criminal laws. The bill has the potential to allow individuals to claim embryos in petri dishes as dependents, to challenge population numbers and election districts based on where IVF clinics are located. We fear this bill could even allow a non-family member to bring charges against a woman who has had a miscarriage.

In a press release, the National Infertility Association warned yesterday that the law could even threaten the practice of In Vitro Fertilization in the commonwealth, as “doctors and patients could be held criminally liable for anything that happens to that embryo.” (The group fully fleshed out its concerns at a press conference yesterday.)

More humorously, blogger Waldo Jaquith listed five ways that granting a fetus the rights of a person could add some daily complications:

1. Fetuses must be strapped into child safety seats. (§ 46.2-1095)
2. A pregnant woman can put her fetus in foster care. (§ 63.2-900)
3. A judge can order that the state take legal custody of a woman’s fetus if she intends to have an abortion. (§ 16.1-246)
4. A court is to provide a father visitation rights with a fetus that he has fathered. (§ 20-124.2)
5. Fetuses may be put to work on the family farm, perform domestic work, or volunteer for the rescue squad. (§ 40.1-79.01)

Local political analyst Chuck Thies joked this morning that if the bill passes, pregnant women driving alone will be entitled to use the commonwealth’s HOV-2 lanes.

Proponents of the bill say that these claims are merely scare tactics, and that the law would only create a civil cause of action for an unborn child that’s killed by negligence or during a crime.

The personhood bill still faces a vote in the Senate, which recently rejected a bill that would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks. Additionally, Gov. Bob McDonnell may be forced to weigh in on it, despite having avoided social issues during his gubernatorial campaign.