Judge Orders Trump Administration To Allow Undocumented Teen To Have Abortion

Elise Foley
Updated

WASHINGTON ― A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to allow an undocumented immigrant teenager in its custody to get an abortion, which officials have obstructed for weeks while instead sending her to a religious crisis pregnancy center to dissuade her from terminating the pregnancy.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that government officials must “promptly and without delay” allow the 17-year-old girl, referred to in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, to temporarily leave custody to obtain an abortion. The Department of Justice filed an appeal to the judge’s ruling later on Wednesday.

The teenager is in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which handles unaccompanied minors who are apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. In March, the office changed its policies to discourage and block minors from getting abortions, a medical service they were previously allowed to access, although the government paid for it only in cases of rape, incest and if a woman’s life was at risk. Under the current policy, it is unclear whether ORR is allowing any minors, including rape victims, to obtain abortions.

Jane Doe, who is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, has already jumped through hoops required by the state of Texas in order to receive an abortion. She received permission from a state judge to have the procedure and made plans to pay for it herself and get transport to her appointments.

But the government has not allowed her to leave custody to obtain an abortion, and officials argued they were under no legal obligation to do so. They also claimed they were not blocking her from getting an abortion because she could get one elsewhere if she agreed to leave the country.

The judge said she was “astounded” at that position during a hearing on Wednesday, according to Buzzfeed and the Washington Post.

“Just because she’s here illegally doesn’t mean she doesn’t have constitutional rights,” Chutkan said.

In her ruling, Chutkan said the government must allow Jane Doe to go to pre-abortion counseling required by Texas law on Oct. 19 and then undergo the procedure on Oct. 20 and/or Oct. 21, depending on medical requirements and availability. Jane Doe’s lawyers requested swift action because she is 15 weeks pregnant, and Texas law allows elective abortion until up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The judge temporarily blocked the government from forcing the teen to reveal her decision about her abortion to anyone or reveal it themselves, after officials previously told Jane Doe’s mother without her consent. Chutkan also temporarily blocked the government from retaliating against either Jane Doe or any shelter where she resides based on her abortion decision.

“At last, our client will be able to get the care she needs without federal officials standing in the way,” Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement. “Her courage and perseverance are incredible, but no one should have to go to court to get a safe, legal abortion. And no one should be held hostage to the extreme anti-abortion views of a handful of government officials.”

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called the court’s decision “a troubling ruling that exceeds the U.S. Constitution and sets a dangerous precedent by opening our borders to any illegal children seeking taxpayer-supported, elective abortions. We are disheartened the ruling rewards ideologically motivated lawsuits filed in multiple courts by the ACLU and abortion advocates.”

The statement went on: “Though the order overrides the policies and procedures of the Office of Refugee Resettlement designed to protect children and their babies who have illegally crossed the border, we will continue to provide them with excellent health care and protect their well-being in all our facilities. We will consider our next steps to ensure our country does not become an open sanctuary for taxpayer-supported abortions by minors crossing the border illegally.”

Amiri called the government’s decision later Wednesday to appeal and continue to fight to block Jane Doe’s abortion “shocking.”

“We should all be horrified that the federal government is doing everything imaginable to stop a young woman from getting an abortion. Even from this administration, it is shocking,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “We are not backing away from this fight.”

DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeal.

Abortions for undocumented minors are rarely paid for with taxpayer money ― and only in the exceptions outlined above in cases of rape, incest or where the health of the mother is involved. The operation for Jane Doe would be privately funded.

Asked about the claim of “taxpayer-supported abortions,” an HHS spokesman said “the mother and unborn baby are in a federally-funded government program.”

The ACLU lawsuit also exposed broader anti-abortion practices at ORR, which is headed by Scott Lloyd, a former attorney at the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus who opposes abortion. Lloyd reportedly has said he would allow pregnant minors to be released only for “pregnancy services and life-affirming options counseling.” He has also made the highly unusual move of visiting minors directly to discourage them from obtaining an abortion.

Earlier this month, a U.S. magistrate in California said that ORR policy to obstruct abortions appeared to be illegal. Women in the U.S. have a constitutional right to abortion even if they are undocumented and/or are in government custody, U.S. Magistrate Laurel Beeler said, although she ultimately did not officially rule on the policy.

“The government may not want to facilitate abortion, but it cannot block it,” Beeler said in court earlier this month, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “It is doing that here.”

The emergency order issued Wednesday by Chutkan applies to Jane Doe’s case specifically, but the ACLU is also seeking to block ORR’s broader policies preventing abortion access to minors in custody. At any given time, there are several hundred to 1,000 pregnant minors in ORR custody, according to the ACLU.

The Department of Justice, which represents the government in court, declined to comment on the ruling.

This story has been updated to include the administration’s reaction and to note the Justice Department’s appeal of the ruling.

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April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”
At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 
On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”
On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”
At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”
At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”
At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”
At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”
On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.