ACLU suit reveals abortion ban for unaccompanied girls in immigration custody


The American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of Jane Doe on Friday in Washington, D.C., challenging a previously unknown abortion ban for pregnant girls who are in immigration custody in government-funded shelters. Under the Trump administration policy, government-funded shelters cannot release minors for abortion-related services without approval from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. Scott Lloyd, director of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, has said he will allow release only for "pregnancy services and life-affirming options counseling."
The ACLU's initial lawsuit, filed in June 2016 in San Francisco, challenged the Obama administration's practice of placing young immigrants in shelters run by government-funded religious organizations. While U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said that the Office of Refugee Resettlement had "no justification" for its refusal to allow Jane Doe to receive an abortion, she also concluded that she did not have jurisdiction over the government's actions in another state, given the matter was not closely related to the ACLU's original lawsuit.
Jane Doe's lawyers claim that pregnant minors in government-funded shelters are funneled to religiously sponsored "crisis pregnancy centers" that discourage abortions and pressure minors to carry out unwanted pregnancies, thus violating girls' constitutional right to privacy "by wielding a veto power over their abortion decisions."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement released a statement Monday night claiming its "legal responsibility to decide what is in the best interests of a minor in the unaccompanied alien program and in this case, her unborn baby."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore