ACLU Seeks Abortion Access for Fourth Young Immigrant
Trump Administration Still Forcing Young Immigrant Women to Continue Pregnancies Against Their Will
WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union filed papers in court today to prevent the Trump administration from blocking another young immigrant woman in federal custody from obtaining an abortion.
As in three prior cases, this young woman, known to the court as Jane Moe, requested an abortion but has been blocked from obtaining one by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
“The Trump administration is effectively banning abortion for these young women,” said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “We’ve already stopped the government from forcing three other ‘Janes’ to continue pregnancies against their will, but clearly, their heartlessness knows no bounds. This administration is blatantly ignoring the fact that the Supreme Court has held that abortion is a fundamental constitutional right.”
The government’s treatment of this young woman is part of a Trump administration policy to block access to abortion care for young immigrants in federal custody. The ACLU has asked the district court to issue an order preventing the government from enforcing its “no abortion” policy against any woman in ORR custody, but the court has not yet ruled on that request
The ACLU’s lawsuit challenging the policy, Garza v. Hargan, has already documented egregious harms against other young women in ORR detention.
More about this case can be found on the ACLU blog: https://www.aclu.org/cases/garza-v-hargan-challenge-trump-administrations-attempts-block-abortions-young-immigrant-women
