Skip to main content

Pro-Choice Caucus Leaders Blast Trump Administration for Continuing to Try and Prevent Immigrant Minors from Accessing Legally-Allowed Reproductive Health Services

January 11, 2018

WASHINGTON, DCCongresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-25) and Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-1), co-chairs of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, today blasted the Trump administration for continuing to prevent immigrant minors in federal shelters from accessing safe and legal reproductive health services even in cases of rape and incest. The federal government is now trying to force a teenager with the pseudonym Jane Moe, currently in government custody, to continue her pregnancy despite the fact that she has adhered to all state and federal laws while trying to access abortion services. This is the fourth time the Trump administration has tried to block an immigrant minor in a federal shelter from accessing constitutionally-provided health care services.

"The Trump administration is once again ignoring the law and throwing up roadblocks to prevent someone from accessing her constitutional right to reproductive health services. Jane Moe is a minor seeking an abortion paid for through private funds, not federal dollars. It is clear that the law provides her this right. It is unconscionable that the Trump administration keeps denying young women like this access to health care services, including abortion services that are guaranteed by the Constitution. This is an attempt to force them to continue their pregnancies against their will, sometimes despite cases of rape and incest. This is an affront to our legal system by a president who campaigned on upholding law and order," said Slaughter.

"Congress clearly needs to rein in Trump administration zealots who are so eager to violate vulnerable people's rights," DeGette said. "Time and again, undocumented teens are being denied access to services. The Constitution prohibits the government from putting an undue burden on that right; the intimidation and repeated injustices at the hands of administration officials must stop. This further illustrates the need for congressional hearings into the matter."

In December, Slaughter and DeGette called on the leadership of the House Judiciary Committee to subpoena Department of Health and Human Services officials involved in a decision to deny a 17-year-old rape victim her right to have an abortion. They had earlier raised their voices over similar cases involving undocumented teenagers in federal custody who had been prevented from receiving such care until outside groups intervened to help them.