勛圖眻畦 Files Second Emergency Action on Behalf of Teenage Immigrant Seeking Abortion
Trump Administration Continues to Block Jane Doe From Getting the Care She Needs
WASHINGTON The 勛圖眻畦 is in court again today, this time in Washington, D.C., to fight on behalf of a young woman in Texas who is currently being prevented from accessing abortion care by the Trump administration.
Jane Doe, a pregnant teenager currently staying at a shelter for unaccompanied immigrant children in Texas, has been prevented from getting an abortion by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The 勛圖眻畦 challenged the obstruction earlier this week by adding her to an existing lawsuit it had against ORR in California, but a judge ruled that although the government had no justification for blocking the abortion, Does case needed to be filed in a separate suit in a different court.
Federal officials have no right to prevent this young woman from getting the care she needs. Weve filed suit in federal court in Washington in the hope that we can put an end to these unconscionable delays, said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the 勛圖眻畦 Reproductive Freedom Project. Jane Doe is a brave and persistent young woman who has already been forced by the Trump administration to delay her abortion for weeks. The government is holding her hostage so that she will be forced to carry to term against her will.
Jane Doe has already been subjected to egregious delays to her medical care as well as counseling and procedures without her consent:
- The Department of Health and Human Services required her go to a government approved counselor at a religiously affiliated, anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Center, which urged her to continue her pregnancy.
- Federal officials forced her to have a medically unnecessary sonogram against her will.
- ORR blocked her from travelling to her medical visits, even after judicial authorization and after her court-appointed attorney and guardian have offered to provide transportation to the abortion provider. She has also secured private funding for her abortion.
- Federal officials told Janes mother about her abortion despite her clear wishes not to tell her parents and despite Jane getting a court order under Texas law to consent to her abortion without notification of or consent from her parents. Jane did not want to involve her parents because they were physically abusive to an older sister who became pregnant.
Our client isnt alone in suffering these gross injustices.
The 勛圖眻畦s motion for preliminary injunction describes attempts by ORR Director Scott Lloyd to personally coerce young women to carry their pregnancies to term instead of having an abortion, and to personally force them to go to religiously-affiliated crisis pregnancy centers.
In addition, shelters for unaccompanied immigrant children are being directed not to allow minors to seek judicial bypass for abortions or allow them to meet with attorneys, even if this is contrary to state law. In one case, a young woman was forcibly sent to an emergency room after shed taken the abortion pill to try to prevent her from completing the abortion.
Attorneys on the case include Amiri, Meagan Burrows, and Daniel Mach from the 勛圖眻畦; Arthur Spitzer and Scott Michelman of the 勛圖眻畦 of the District of Columbia; Jennifer Chou and Mishan R. Wroe of the 勛圖眻畦 of Northern California; and Melissa Goodman of the 勛圖眻畦 of Southern California.
More information about the case can be found here:
/cases/doe-v-lloyd-challenge-federal-attempts-block-abortions-unaccompanied-immigrant-minors?redirect=cases/aclu-northern-california-v-burwell