US court rules in favour of 17-year-old immigrant seeking abortion

After weeks of obstruction by the Trump administration, a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant was finally able to terminate her pregnancy on Wednesday morning.

The girl, known as Jane Doe in the courts, entered the US in September and discovered she was pregnant while in federal custody at a facility for unaccompanied minors in South Texas.

On September 25, she obtained a court order permitting her to undergo the procedure, but federal officials refused to transport her or grant her temporary release.

According to The Independent, her lawyers say government officials had illegally denied her the medical care she was entitled to, and claim that the staff at the shelter she was staying in had taken her to a crisis pregnancy centre to try to discourage her from terminating the pregnancy.

The teen was eventually granted permission to have the procedure after a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled six-three in favour of the teen.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Brigitte Amiri, a lawyer who argued for the teen in court said: “I'm relieved for Jane Doe, but I'm so incredibly frustrated that we had to go through all of this for what is a very well-settled constitutional right.”

Oh, and one more thing while we have you! Don't forget that you can catch up on all your favourite shows for free for a month right here, so sign up now!