Attorneys general in 11 states urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to vacate a lower court’s decision to force the government to help facilitate an abortion for an illegal immigrant minor.
The teen, “Jane Doe,” aborted her unborn baby in October after a federal appeals court ruled in her favor. However, the federal government and the 11 states want the high court to consider the case because of the precedent it could set for future situations.
Earlier this fall, the ACLU won a victory for the abortion industry when a federal appeals court ruled that the government must help facilitate an abortion for the teen who was staying in a Texas government shelter. Barely 24 hours after the ruling, the teen had her unborn baby aborted.
Later, the Trump administration accused the ACLU of deceiving the government about when the teen’s abortion would take place. It asked the Supreme Court to consider the case, as well as disciplinary actions against the ACLU attorneys.
The Dallas Morning News reports Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief Monday, along with attorneys general in 10 other states, supporting the federal government’s case.
“No court has ever before recognized such broad rights for unlawfully present aliens with virtually no connections to the country,” Paxton wrote in the brief. “Under the reasoning of the courts below, there will be no meaningful limit on the constitutional rights an unlawfully present alien can invoke simply by attempting to enter this country.”
Also signing the brief were the state attorneys general from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia, according to the report.
Here’s more from the report:
In the brief, Paxton argues that Texas has a right to promote fetal life — and that states take on substantial cost from unauthorized immigrants. He said that when more benefits are given to the immigrants, more will enter the country unlawfully and increase demands on services.
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The federal government also asked the Supreme Court to send the case back to the district court because Doe’s attorneys misled them as to when she would be getting an abortion.
In the petition to the Supreme Court, the government said the ACLU violated its duty to the court and the Bar, and disciplinary actions may be warranted.
“After informing Justice Department attorneys that the procedure would occur on October 26th, Jane Doe’s attorneys scheduled the abortion for the early morning hours of October 25th, thereby thwarting Supreme Court review,” Department of Justice spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement in November.
“Jane Doe,” 17, came to the country illegally and was staying at a taxpayer-funded shelter in Texas when she requested an abortion. The shelter did not assist her, citing a new government policy that they offer life-affirming support to women and girls who are pregnant, according to Slate.
According to the report, the shelter took Doe to a pro-life pregnancy resource center instead. The ACLU said the teen did not change her mind after receiving counseling, and scheduled an abortion; however, the shelter where she is staying refused to transport her to the appointment.
The ACLU sued on behalf of the teen, and after a series of appeals by the U.S. government and the ACLU, the pro-abortion legal group won in federal appeals court. The teen aborted her unborn baby the next day.
Several days after the abortion, reports indicated the teen needed mental health treatment.
Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other abortion activists celebrated the news of the unborn baby’s abortion death.
Earlier this year under President Donald Trump’s administration, the Office of Refugee Resettlement issued a new policy requiring that taxpayer-funded shelters for immigrants and refugees offer life-affirming support to women and girls who are pregnant.
Office Director Scott Lloyd, a Trump nominee, said the shelters may not take “any action that facilitates” an abortion for unaccompanied minors without his direct approval.
Lloyd said that “grantees should not be supporting abortion services … only pregnancy services and life-affirming options counseling.”
