After several weeks of attempted delays by the Trump administration, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. ruled on Tuesday that a 17-year-old immigrant woman in custody must be allowed to have the abortion she requested last month.
A U.S. appeals court has cleared the way for a 17-year-old immigrant held in federal custody to obtain an abortion.
The ruling Tuesday by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overruled a decision by a three-judge panel of the court that at least temporarily blocked the teen from having the procedure.
Jane Doe, whose name is not being released in the press, is currently in a detention facility for unaccompanied minors in Texas. She has requested that she be permitted to have an abortion without parental consent since she is in the country without guardians. Though she made the request on September 11, the administrators of the government agencies charged with her care (Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration of Children and Families, and Health and Human Services) have all actively worked to force her to carry this pregnancy to term. It is likely that they were hoping to run out the clock until she was too far along to be able to legally obtain an abortion in the state.
This now totals four out of four courts that have said Doe has the right to an abortion. A state judge, a federal judge, a panel of appeal judges and now the full appeals court have all ruled the same way. At this point, all the government has to do is sign the paperwork to release her from the facility. This case, which never should have been an issue to being with, has gone way too far and demonstrated the lengths the sick and dangerous Trump administration will go to in order to control women and our reproductive rights.
Let’s hope this is finally over. Jane Doe should never have had to fight for her right to an abortion and she should most certainly not be used as a political pawn by angry old men who don’t care anything about women’s health and well-being.