Undocumented Teen's Abortion Delayed By CA Court Ruling

SAN FRANCISCO – A U.S. magistrate judge in San Francisco refused Wednesday to order federal officials to allow an abortion for an undocumented pregnant 17-year-old who is being held in a government-funded shelter in Texas and who wants the procedure.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said the case was too remote from the Northern California federal court district for her to take action. But she said the unidentified minor, known as Jane Doe, could file a different lawsuit elsewhere.

Beeler also said in a written ruling that the federal officials were not entitled to obstruct Jane Doe from obtaining an abortion.

Like prisoners, Beeler wrote, "those detained by Customs and Immigration Enforcement have a legal right to an abortion."

"The government may not want to facilitate abortion, but it cannot block it. It is doing that here," Beeler wrote.

The order was requested by the American Civil Liberties Union, which last year filed a lawsuit challenging the government's alleged denial of contraception and abortion information to undocumented, unaccompanied
minors who are apprehended and held in shelters until they are united with families, granted asylum or deported.

The program for caring for unaccompanied immigrant children is run by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In March, that office announced that all federally funded shelters are prohibited from taking "any action that facilitates" abortion access for unaccompanied minors without the approval of the ORR director, according to
the ACLU.

Jane Doe was apprehended at the U.S. border with Mexico less than a month ago, according to court filings. After learning of her situation, the ACLU sought to add her to the case filed in San Francisco.

In Texas, pregnant minors who want an abortion must obtain their parents' permission or a judge's order.

The ACLU said Jane Doe obtained a Texas state judge's approval, but alleged that federal officials forced her to visit an anti-abortion pregnancy crisis center and would not allow her to leave the shelter to receive the mandatory counseling required by Texas or to receive the abortion procedure, tentatively scheduled for Friday.

ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri said in a statement, "Today's district court ruling comes as a serious disappointment, because it delays Jane Doe's abortion even further."

"Although the court found it couldn't hear the case, it was careful to explain that the government has no business blocking Jane Doe's abortion," Amiri said.

Amiri did not say what Jane Doe's attorneys will do next, but said, "We're not giving up. The ACLU will continue to pursue all avenues to get justice for Jane Doe and young women like her."

U.S. Justice Department lawyers argued that Jane Doe didn't belong in the original lawsuit because her claims presented new facts and new legal theories.

They also contended that "it is constitutional for the government to refuse to facilitate abortion."

Beeler agreed that Jane Doe had no connection to Northern California, saying, "No acts or omissions took place here. Jane Doe is in Texas."

But the judge said that if she had taken jurisdiction over the girl's claims, she would have ordered the government not to interfere with or obstruct her access to abortion.

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