On Monday, the Trump administration approached the Supreme Court seeking to block a 10-weeks-pregnant minor held in immigration detention from obtaining an abortion—a repeat of the strategy used against an unaccompanied Central American teenager last October.
According to Politico, the administration's petition came just hours after a federal judge ruled that two undocumented 17-year-olds should be allowed to have abortions. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued a restraining order Monday evening to enable the procedures for both teens. The Justice Department conceded in one case—where the pregnancy is estimated at 22 weeks—but submitted a stay request regarding the girl who is 10 weeks pregnant, arguing “differing circumstances.”
Chutkan stated that these cases were fundamentally identical to the one decided in October, emphasizing a “need to preserve [the girls’] constitutional right to decide whether to carry their pregnancies to term.”
Brigitte Amiri of the American Civil Liberties Union, representing the teens seeking abortions, remarked after the ruling, “We’re prepared to keep fighting for as long as we need to,” calling the situation “absolutely deja vu” of the October case.
Despite recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services, Chutkan stood firm: “Every decision to terminate a pregnancy is a difficult one. That doesn’t mean because she arrived at her decision after a struggle, that’s less of a right.”
The ACLU has asked to expand the case into a class action to safeguard other undocumented minors in federally funded shelters, but Chutkan has not yet ruled on that request.
Photo by Charlotte Cooper, via Flickr Creative Commons
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