Judge orders Trump administration to allow abortion for undocumented teen
Source: Washington Post
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. government to allow an undocumented teenager in its custody to have an abortion, after saying she was astounded the Trump administration was trying to prevent the procedure.
Lawyers for Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled to U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in Washington that the 17-year-old, who crossed the border from Mexico illegally last month, did not have a constitutional right to an elective abortion in federal custody, unless it was a medical emergency.
Chutkan, an Obama administration nominee, said the government appeared to be presenting the teenager identified in court papers as Jane Doe with two options: Voluntarily return to a nation she fled to procure an abortion, or carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
I am astounded by that position, Chutkan said in a 40-minute hearing that was mostly consumed by a back-and-forth between the judge and Scott Stewart, a deputy assistant attorney general.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/judge-trump-administration-cancannot-block-abortion-for-pregnant-undocumented-teen/2017/10/18/82348e08-b406-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?pushid=59e7bde92e6a733200000042&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&utm_term=.8d45dbf6564b
Gothmog
(143,998 posts)IllinoisBirdWatcher
(2,315 posts)Chutkan asked Stewart if he thought illegal immigrants had constitutional rights and if he believed that Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a womans right to an abortion, is still the law of the land...
Im not going to give you a concession on that your honor, he said.
The judge laughed. This is remarkable, she said.
riversedge
(69,708 posts)http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/politics/pregnant-teen-immigrant-abortion-ruling/index.html?CNNPolitics=Tw
.............In a two-page decision, DC District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered officials at the Department of Health and Human Services to allow the girl, identified only as Jane Doe, to be transported by a guardian or attorney "promptly and without delay" to an abortion provider to obtain state-mandated counseling and then to obtain the abortion.
The order also bars those officials from "interfering or obstructing" the girl's access, from forcing her to make her decision known to anyone and from "retaliating" against her and the facility where she is over her decision. ......................
mreilly
(2,120 posts)"If it's something that would help or benefit anyone besides us or our friends, we're opposed to it."
"If it's something would be bad for anyone besides us or our friends, we're in favor of it."
Once you see their game plan everything they do suddenly makes sense (or can at least be explained by one of the above two concepts).
Marthe48
(16,688 posts)another uterus to regulate.