Trump Administration Moves to Halt Abortion of Fourth Illegal Immigrant Teen

Illegal Teen Abortion
MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSONTHE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES
Dr. Susan Berry

The Trump administration has again moved to block a fourth illegal immigrant minor from obtaining an abortion in the United States, stating the federal government is not required to facilitate abortions for these individuals.

“The Jane in this case, Jane Moe — who entered the country illegally — has the option to voluntarily depart to her home country or find a suitable sponsor,” a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, according to the Hill. “If she chooses not to exercise these options, HHS does not believe we are required to facilitate Jane Moe’s abortion, out of concern and responsibility for the mother’s best interests.”

Once again, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration. ACLU seeks to allow 17-year-old Jane Moe – in her second trimester of pregnancy – to obtain an abortion.

In December, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, issued a temporary restraining order to allow two illegal immigrant teens – one age 17 and the other who claimed to be 17 but was later discovered to be 19 – to obtain abortions.

The ACLU has been battling the Trump administration’s policy that states federally funded shelters must not take “any action that facilitates” an abortion for an illegal immigrant minor without “approval from the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).”

The civil rights organization sued the Trump administration in October, claiming it was using “unconstitutional veto power” over abortion, and won its case before Chutkan for “Jane Doe,” who ultimately had an abortion at 11 weeks before the Trump administration could appeal the case to the Supreme Court, causing the ACLU’s actions to be considered questionable.

In the case of Roe v. Wade in 1973, the Supreme Court created a constitutional right to abortion though the Constitution never provided such a right.

In response to the ACLU’s actions, Catherine Glenn Foster, President and CEO of Americans United for Life (AUL) – the legal arm of the pro-life movement – released the following statement:

Americans United for Life is deeply disappointed that, yet again, the ACLU is attempting to force the United States Government to expend its resources in terminating an unborn child, the exact age of whom has been withheld. The court documents do tell us that Jane Moe is in her second trimester, a point at which the majority of Americans believe abortion should be illegal. The growing lack of transparency in these cases is disturbing, and AUL will continue to raise awareness on this issue in the interest of protecting both unborn children and their mothers.

In December, Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest abortion provider – demanded that Scott Lloyd, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), be fired for declining to approve an abortion of one of the illegal teens who claimed to have been raped.

“Scott Lloyd should immediately be removed from his position as director of ORR,” said Dana Singiser, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). “He is unfit to serve in government. Lloyd is imposing his personal beliefs on the young women in his agency’s care—to control their bodies and violate their constitutional rights. His overreach and abuse of power puts these young women’s lives in danger.”

In declining to authorize the illegal immigrant’s abortion, Lloyd wrote in a memo, “I disagree,” with the notion that not facilitating an abortion – regardless of how the pregnancy came about – is “a form of violence against the mother.”

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