Federal Judge Orders Trump HHS to Allow Detained Teens to Get Abortions
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to allow two pregnant teenagers staying in a Health and Human Services shelter to get abortions.
The unaccompanied minors, both 17 years of age, were detained while entering the country. One is 10 weeks pregnant and the other is almost 22 weeks pregnant.
U.S. District Judge Tanay Chutkan ruled the administration can't keep the teens from their "right" to an abortion. She wrote, "preserve (the teens) constitutional right to decide whether to carry their pregnancies to term."
The Trump administration changed an Obama-era policy that allowed pregnant minors detained while entering the country to end their pregnancies.
"We are deeply disappointed in the decision to grant a temporary restraining order that will compel HHS to facilitate abortions for minors when they are not medically necessary," The Department of Health and Human Services, which is caring for the minors, said in a statement. "HHS-funded facilities that provide temporary shelter and care for unaccompanied alien minors should not become way stations for these children to get taxpayer-facilitated abortions."
On Monday, ACLU lawyers representing the girls argued the administration's new policy is an unconstitutional ban on abortion because it strips the teens of their right to make the decision about becoming a parent.
The administration has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court to block the judge's order for the teen who is 10-weeks pregnant.
