Appeals Court Rules Trump Admin Can’t Bar Migrant Minors From Getting Abortions

Protestors led by a coalition of interfaith religious leaders demonstrate against US immigration policy that separates parents from their children, June 23, 2018 outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, C... Protestors led by a coalition of interfaith religious leaders demonstrate against US immigration policy that separates parents from their children, June 23, 2018 outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. - The Otay Mesa Detention Center, owned and operated by private prison company CoreCivic, has an inmate population that includes detainees of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. ruled Friday that the Trump administration cannot block pregnant migrant minors in custody from getting an abortion.

As BuzzFeed was first to flag, the court ruled that the Trump administration ban does not align with Supreme Court precedent that a person has the “constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy” and the “government cannot unduly burden her decision.”

“The government accepts the applicability of that settled framework to unaccompanied alien children in its custody,” the court said. “We are unanimous in rejecting the government’s position that its denial of abortion access can be squared with Supreme Court precedent.”

The case was centered around a pregnant minor who was being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after being raped in her home country and crossing the U.S. border. The migrant female was barred from obtaining an abortion and she sued in order to obtain one.

Read the full 81-page opinion below:

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Notable Replies

  1. Another article header that in another time or place would look surreal.

  2. They’re jumping the gun. The Supreme Court hasn’t declared abortion illegal— yet.

  3. Avatar for paulw paulw says:

    Maybe this will be the case they use to do it.

  4. Another law the Trump Humpers think they can ignore??? Thanks Judges…

  5. By arguing that the teenager shouldn’t seek abortion under state custody, the Trump admin basically says their belief should be applied to everyone. They’re trying to establish an official religion and that’s against the Constitution. I wish the judge could have been clearer about it.

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