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Today the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in favor of Jane Doe (pseudonym), a 17-year-old detained by federal immigration authorities in the state of Texas, and mandated that the federal authorities allow her to have an abortion.
This 6-3 ruling came after a three judge panel (of the same court) overturned a lower court's ruling to allow Doe to seek an abortion. The decision by the Appeals Court simply sent the case back to a lower court in which the judge promptly reinstated the previous ruling (allowing Doe to seek an abortion) and mandated that the government "promptly and without delay" transport the teen to a Texas abortion provider.
Conservatives say this ruling opens up a precedent for unaccompanied minors being able to obtain abortions on demand. Liberals say that the government can not restrict a woman's right to an abortion even if she is undocumented and a minor. What do you think? Should Doe be allowed to have an abortion? Does Roe v. Wade apply to undocumented immigrants and/or minors?
11 comments:
I agree with the court's decision; Doe should be allowed to have an abortion. I believe that a woman's right to an abortion should not be restricted, regardless if she is undocumented, a minor, or neither, as mandated by Roe v. Wade.
I understand why some might argue against the right to abortion for a minor (especially an undocumented one), with around two-fifths of the United States actually requiring parental consent for a minor to receive an abortion. However, there's no way to receive parental consent in this case, and I feel that Doe is mature enough (17 is close enough to 18). The article also mentioned that Doe was 11 weeks pregnant, which is within the first trimester; thus, Roe v. Wade should apply.
I think that all women should have the right to abortion. Parental consent for the abortion would be ideal but in circumstances such as this where the applicant may not be able to receive permission, it should still be allowed. However, I am unsure of whether or not Roe v. Wade is applicable in this case, given that the subject is undocumented. Regardless, I still believe that the court's decision was the right decision.
I agree with the previous commenters and with the court in ruling that Doe should be allowed to have an abortion. I find the fact that this decision had to go through so many levels of the court before the decision could be reached slightly alarming. In time sensitive cases like this, where the fetus is maturing every day the inefficiency of many governmental processes is highlighted. To me, it is absurd that any body of power should be able to restrict you from being able to safely go through with a medical procedure like an abortion. If anything, I think this kind of thinking contributes to unsafe methods of having a miscarriage. For this reason, I think that the course made the right decision in allowing Doe to have an abortion. I do not think her citizenship status should affect her ability to get an abortion or any other health related procedure.
I believe all women should have the right to have an abortion and I think no one but the women in this position should have the right to make a choice. A women should be the only one in control of her body and the government, family members, or the community has no right to make this decision for her. I do understand that some believe abortion is murder for life starts at conception, but it has scientifically been proven and decided that an abortion can only occur before the fetus becomes "living" or an actual baby so abortion is not murder. Also, I respect others opinion that abortion is wrong but they don't have the right to control and take away the choice from people who believe abortion to not be a sin.
I believe that any woman should have the right to abortion. Abortion is a personal choice that should not have to go through so many levels of the court. It is a very sensitive and important issue and the only person who should have to talk and decide about it should be the people concerned and the doctor. Although people have different opinions about abortion that are understandable, I personally think that it is her body and it is her choice.
I think the rules of Roe v Wade should apply because a women's right to abortion should be a fundamentally acknowledged right for any woman; therefore, while she is undocumented, she should still be privy to the same basic rights of any woman in the United States as she is a resident here. The matter of being a minor is a different issue, but with or without parental consent I believe she should still retain the right to an abortion; any woman should have the freedom of choice over their own individual bodies, especially in terms of a medical procedure as Keegan stated. Abortions are a matter of a woman's own health and any person should be able to take care of themselves and their bodies to feel safe and comfortable. Additionally, as Alex said, she is 17 which is a mature enough age to understand the implications of her decision.
I think that it is very important for unaccompanied minors to be able to recieve abortions. Teenagers rarely have the maturity to become parents (thanks, slowly developing pre-frontal cortex) and a pregnant teenager could have very religious (or anti-abortion) parents who force them to have the baby, which is just as awful as a full grown woman not being able to get an abortion. I think that Roe v Wade should also apply to undocumented people because I don’t think that being undocumented should mean that U.S. laws don’t apply. Though, this is definitely a tricky question because undocumented people being granted all of the same protections that citizens are granted without dealing with the burdens of bing a citizen would definitely outrage a lot of people (but at the same time, undocumented people still need protection and have human rights).
A quick update on this story: Doe received an abortion this morning (wed. 10/25). Also I somewhat misreported on certain details of the court procedure. For one thing I neglected to mention that the original lower court's ruling was made by a Texas State judge, I also feel I should clarify that Doe was being represented by the ACLU as part of their Reproductive Freedom Project and that this lawsuit started as a petition to a judge in order for an minor to receive an abortion without parental consent (under a Texas law). When the judge granted Doe permission to have an abortion, the Department of Health and Human Services(which was holding Doe under it's refugee resettlement program) refused to allow her to leave the facility (privately owned) to have an abortion. It is also worth noting that this case did not challenge a federal law that prevents the government from paying for abortion procedures. I apologize for the inconvenience and if you would like to know more about this case here are some links to more articles.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/25/560013894/jane-doe-has-abortion-in-texas-after-battle-with-trump-administration
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/24/559893203/d-c-appeals-court-rules-for-teen-seeking-abortion-while-in-u-s-illegally
and you can find many more on your own
I think overall Roe v. Wade should apply to all women in general, even if they're minors. I also think that abortions should be up to the girl alone because it's up to them what to do with their bodies. Even though it's a sensitive issue, at the end of the day it's entirely up to the woman as a personal choice. I also feel that her documented status shouldn't affect whether or not she could have this right. Ultimately, I'm in favor of the court's decision. I agree with Hannah that her being 17 is a mature enough age to understand what it could do to her future. Freedom of choice still applies to minors.
I agree with the above comments that Jane Doe should have access to an abortion, even if she is a minor and an undocumented immigrant. I don’t believe that parental consent should be necessary in order to obtain an abortion; like Claire mentioned, a minor might have parents who force them to go through with the pregnancy, which violates the minor’s own freedom of choice. However, it seems that several state laws do require parental involvement in order for minors to obtain abortions. Additionally, the fact that Doe is undocumented makes the application of Roe v. Wade unclear, though I believe that the ruling should apply regardless and that the Court of Appeals made the right decision.
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