Feds ordered to let immigrant teen have an abortion
17-year-old being held in Texas after crossing border
A federal judge Wednesday ordered the U.S. government to allow a teenager in the country illegally in its custody to have an abortion, after saying she was “astounded” the Trump administration was trying to prevent the procedure.
Lawyers for Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington that the 17-year-old, who crossed the border from Mexico illegally last month, did not have a constitutional right to an elective abortion in federal custody, unless it was a medical emergency.
Chutkan, an Obama administration nominee, said the government appeared to be presenting the teenager identified in court papers as “Jane Doe” with two options: Voluntarily return to a nation she fled to procure an abortion, or carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
“I am astounded by that
position,” Chutkan said in a 40-minute hearing that was mostly consumed by a backand-forth between the judge and Scott Stewart, a deputy assistant attorney general.
She ordered the government to transport the teenager to have the procedure — or allow her guardian to transport her — “promptly and without delay.”
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the girl, asked Chutkan for an emergency restraining order to prevent the government from blocking the girl’s plan to have an abortion. They also sought a preliminary injunction to protect others seeking abortions.
ACLU lawyer Brigitte Amiri argued that it was “out of any sort of constitutional bounds” for the U.S. government to block the teenager’s legal right to an abortion, which is preserved in the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling.
But Stewart told the judge that pregnant undocumented minors from other countries are not entitled to abortions and said in court records that opening the door to that right “would significantly infringe on the government’s interests in preserving life and protecting national boundaries.”
“I respectfully disagree that she’s entitled to an abortion” facilitated by the government, he said, noting that the girl’s case was not a medical emergency.
Chutkan countered that the teenager does not need a medical emergency to exercise her right to an abortion. She said the girl had followed state and federal rules: She obtained permission from a state judge in Texas to have an abortion and would cover the expenses herself or with help through her court-appointed guardian.
All the government had to do, the judge said, is process the paperwork to let the girl visit the clinic, just as it would if she needed to have her tonsils removed.
However, the girl is quickly running out of time to have a legal abortion in the United States. The girl is 15 weeks pregnant, and Texas bars most abortions after 20 weeks.