No abortion advice, lawyers told
U.S. funds at risk, children’s rights group’s email says
A legal services group for alien children told its lawyers nationwide not to discuss abortion access, even if minors in custody ask for help understanding their legal rights, for fear it would jeopardize a multimillion-dollar contract with the Department of Health and Human Services.
The constraints on what government-funded lawyers can say to young detainees was contained in an email from the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice, which said it acted after a phone call with a Health and Human Services employee.
Vera’s instruction to lawyers comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has tried in court to block access to abortion procedures for teenage illegal aliens in federal custody.
“We know for a fact that there is a very real risk to the entire legal services program for children in [Office of Refugee Resettlement] custody if issues other than immigration are addressed in consultations or representation, the abortion issue in particular,” a Vera official cautioned in a Feb. 2 email obtained by The Washington Post.
The government pays $57 million a year under a fiveyear contract to Vera, which works with 38 organizations in six regions to provide legal help to minors who have crossed the border illegally and without their parents.
In the email, Vera official Anne Marie Mulcahy said she was sending it after a conversation with the government analyst who manages the program within the Office of Refugee Resettlement at Health and Human Services.
During the call, the employee “directed us to ensure that Vera’s legal services providers are not talking to children in HHS custody about abortion,” Mulcahy, who is the director of Vera’s unaccompanied minors program, wrote, using initials to refer to Health and Human Services.
Mulcahy instructed lawyers to immediately strip references to abortion in “Know Your Rights” legal pamphlets and said lawyers could refer children with abortion-related questions to other attorneys.
A Health and Human Services spokesman declined to make the employee available for an interview, and independent attempts to reach her were not successful.
Mulcahy did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.
In a statement, the Health and Human Services spokesman said the department “has not issued a new directive on the matter of abortion” to Vera, which it said is under contract “to provide immigration expertise” to unaccompanied minors.
Vera said it routinely is given oral instructions from the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The Health and Human Services Department declined to say whether the contract is in jeopardy if lawyers answer questions about or mention abortion rights to the minors and said Vera has not provided it with a copy of the email.
Aliens — including children — are not entitled to government-appointed lawyers in immigration court. Federal money for programs like Vera’s is a main avenue for legal advice for unaccompanied children in custody. The group’s lawyers provide one-on-one legal screenings and presentations to advise minors of their rights.
Information for this article was contributed by Julie Tate and Magda Jean-Louis of The Washington Post.