Legal group says: Don’t ‘mention’ abortion
In email, attorneys for immigrant teens told to skirt controversial issue
A major legal services group for immigrant 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 multimilliondollar contract with the Department of Health and Human Services.
The constraints on what governmentfunded 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 the Trump administration has tried in court to block access to abortion procedures for undocumented teens 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 five-year 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 Health and Human Services’ custody about abortion,” wrote Mulcahy, who is the director of Vera’s unaccompanied minors program.
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.
In a statement, the 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.
Immigrants — including children — are not entitled to governmentappointed 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-onone legal screenings and presentations to advise minors of their rights.
The Vera Institute email directs its lawyers’ attention to how important the abortion issue is to the new head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The federal agency did not pay for the procedures, except in the case of rape,
Legal experts said the new limitations put attorneys in a bind if they are prohibited from telling teens in custody, for instance, that there is a constitutional right to an abortion.
Kari Hong, an immigration law expert who runs a pro bono program for noncitizens, called the order “very disconcerting.”
“It’s hard to overstate what a breach this is into the communications lawyers are supposed to be providing,” said Hong, who is also a Boston College law professor.
The Supreme Court has upheld restrictions on federally funded family planning clinics prohibiting discussions with patients about abortion. But Hong said that “with gag orders on doctors, the patient is free to walk down the hall or find another hospital.” Children in custody have limited access to lawyers, and she said it’s unrealistic that minors could find or afford another attorney.