A court case bubbling up in Texas could have huge ramifications on both immigration and abortion in our nation. A 17-year-old was caught crossing the United States-Mexican border and was transferred, as is normal procedure, to the Office of Refugee Resettlement under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They took custody of the girl, who is pregnant, and have been caring for her and her unborn child.
Entering the drama is the leftist American Civil Liberties Union, who has gone to court to try to force the government to allow her to obtain an abortion. On whose dime the abortion would be provided, we don’t know. Various media reports have said pro-abortion organizations have raised funds to pay for the abortion, but that’s unclear.
A judge in California threw out the case, because it wasn’t in her jurisdiction. The ACLU refiled the case in Washington, D.C. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said that undocumented immigrants have no constitutional right to abortion and that he does not want Texas to become a “sanctuary state” for abortion. Add to the mix that Texas has parental notification laws. Several states have already filed amicus briefs in support of Texas’ stance.
I’d agree as well.
There are numerous moral and legal issues to this case that must be addressed. First, the girl is a minor, and she was unaccompanied when she crossed the border. We don’t know where her parents are or anything about her family. She is legally under the custody of HHS, who are providing her with the care she needs and is not consenting to take her to have an abortion. It is also worth noting that HHS is actually caring for two patients (the mother and the unborn child). I am told by sources inside HHS that our government has offered to take her back to her home country where she and her parents can decide what to do.
Secondly, an illegal immigrant has no legal right to an abortion in this country. (Actually, there is no legal right to abortion under the Constitution, as the ACLU has argued, but that is another story.) If a court decides this young woman can come to the United States illegally and demand to have an abortion, what’s to stop anyone following her from doing the exact same thing?
And who is going to foot the bill for these abortions? Taxpayers? No way.
Abortion is not healthcare and should not be treated as such, no matter how loudly Planned Parenthood screams that it should be. They profit tremendously off of abortions, as does the entire industry and the elected officials behind whom they throw millions of dollars. There is nothing objective about abortion coming from the ACLU and their abortion-lobby buddies.
There is no question that this teenager is in a difficult situation. Whatever the backstory is, it can’t be pretty to have ended up how she did. But the United States, especially under a demonstrably pro-life president, has no reason to aid her in obtaining an abortion.
A court ordering HHS to take the girl for an abortion is an unreasonable demand on the conscience of the organizations helping the teen right now, taking care of her and her unborn baby.
The precedent for such an action, either voluntarily or by court order, could be the opening for taxpayer-funded abortions for illegal immigrants. There are plenty of good organizations in the country that care for teens just like this young woman, without the added burden of abortion to her life.